Doppelganger
by Anrixan
Summary: COMPLETE When things go awry for Gippal, he starts acting strangely in front of his friends. Desperate times call for desperate measures...
1. This Is The Night

**Hello again! I had to borrow a muse (thanks, tagg!!) in order for me to start writing again, for I fear my muse died. It's sad, I know. However, this muse was an overachiever and kept smacking me with the Pen of Serendipity to get me to finish this fic, and it happened all right; in three days. This is my first fic based on Rikku and Gippal...When the idea of the story popped in my brain, I was orginally going to use Gippal and Yuna, but as some things unfold, using Rikku's reactions and some smartass comments from Paine made the story a lot better. This first chapter is more dramatic than anything, but this is actually a humor fic. I just had to lay out the setting and plot. I hope you enjoy this, because I have had quite a few laughs with it (although it is possible that I am overtired and everything is humerous to me) and I have enjoyed writing it. Now, I have to dedicate this story to some dear friends of mine--Ying Ying 54, Angel Taisha, TheCalligrapher, Taggerung0524, BatousaiX. Steel Balrog, and Lai17--because without thier neverending support I wouldn't** **strive for the best. I 'lurve' you guys, you're the best!!**

**Oh, dear me, here I have gone rambling again. Once again, I hope you enjoy reading this and R and R!!!**

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1. This Is The Night

_Okay, this night has to be perfect! _Gippal thought to himself as he hurried around his house. Tonight was the night that he was going to pop the big question to Rikku. They had only been officially dating for several months, but he felt that he was ready to spend the rest of his life with her. They grew up together, so he figured that a long courting session wasn't needed. Instead of going to a really fancy restaurant, he decided to make it more romantic by having a candle lit dinner. He even called up Yuna for the recipes so everything would be ideal. _I'm just thankful that I didn't burn anything! _

He moved the candlesticks to the left a little, then realized he didn't like them there so he moved them back. _It's only quarter to seven, and I told her to be here at 7. She'll be here at quarter after, so what am I supposed to do for a half hour? _He exhaled as he walked back to the kitchen counter where the bottle of wine sat. He contemplated pouring the wine now, but he didn't want it to sit for a half hour. Leaning against the counter, he looked at his romantic display again. The flickering of the candles emitted a warm glow around the room, causing shadows against the wall. He was slightly upset that you couldn't see the bedroom from the kitchen, because that was set up as well. Satin sheets, more candles, and of course, Rikku's favorite—massage oils.

A smile crept on his face as he thought of her voice as they talked on the phone earlier. She could've been screaming at him in Al Bhed (which did happen from time to time) and he still would've been in love with the sound of her voice. He chuckled as he thought of her face twisting and turning red when she's mad at him. Her voice would gradually become higher pitched too. _Oh, my Rikku…_He thought with a slight chuckle. Excitement began to take over again when he remembered how she said, "You need to tell me something? Okay, good. This works out because I need to tell you something too." _I wonder what she needs to tell me? It'll probably be something in her bedroom voice because she knows that makes me crazy…_

Gippal nervously played with the small square box that contained the ring as he started to think. _It's just a random question, it's not that big of a deal! Yes, it is. I'm going to marry her. I can't believe I'm doing this. Uh oh, what is Cid going to say? Maybe I should've asked him before I bought the ring! What am I going to do!? _

The doorbell rang, interrupting his train of thought. He jumped in surprise and placed his hand over his heart as he looked at the clock. It was only ten to seven; she was surprisingly early. Gippal was well aware of how punctuality was not a gift that Rikku was blessed with, so he usually planned his schedule according to "Rikku Time." In other words, if Rikku asked him to come over at noon, she really meant 12:30. If he came over any sooner, she would get frustrated with him because she wouldn't be ready. Her hair would still be disheveled or her makeup wouldn't be completed. Not like Gippal cared anyway, he was love with who she was under the makeup and hairspray. No matter how many times he informed her of this, she would roll her eyes and giggle at him. _Then she tells me that I'm 'cute.' Cute, eh? I can live with that…_

With a gulp, Gippal smoothed out his shirt and ventured toward the front door. He wasn't one to dress up, but he figured that this was a special occasion to go in his closet and dust off the dress clothes. He didn't realize that he actually did have a lot of dress clothes. Most of them he bought for award ceremonies back when he was in the Crimson Squad and also for meetings of the Machine Faction. After trying on about six shirts and three pairs of pants, he decided on a white shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes. He even bought a new eye patch because the one that he had definitely looked like it went through one too many sandstorms from the Sanubia Desert.

He exhaled again as he opened the door, revealing his beautiful girlfriend. She was wearing a lavender halter top with a short black skirt, her hair fell down her back in delicate waves, and a serious look was on her face. Gippal was confused at the look, but brought her into a kiss anyway.

"Hello, beautiful," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. He loved when she wore her hair down instead of the ponytail that she usually had. Rikku always complained that it was too long to do anything with, but Gippal begged to differ.

"Hi." A sigh escaped her lips as she broke out of his embrace and walked a few steps away.

"Hey, you okay?" He walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips. She didn't turn around so he couldn't see the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just, I don't know, excited or something to see everyone again next week." The Machine Faction, The Youth League, and New Yevon were having a peace treaty signed in Luca the following week, meaning that Baralai, Paine, Nooj, and Leblanc would be there. Yuna, Tidus, Lulu, Wakka, and little Vidina were going to be there as well to see everyone again, and also applaud the speech that Baralai, Gippal, and Nooj were planning on giving.

"I think if you were excited you would be the normal, hyper Rikku that I know, instead of being Ms. Gloomy Pants." He walked around her just in time to see a tear fall down her cheek. Gippal didn't know what to do; this was _definitely_ not the way he thought she was going to be tonight. He wasn't prepared for this kind of reaction.

"I know, this is just a hard thing to say." She nervously played with her hair and looked down, avoiding eye contact with Gippal. "I mean, you look so good tonight."

"You look magnificent yourself," he said as he kissed her tear stained cheek.

"Stop! Are you making this harder to make this easier on yourself?" She said, slightly pushing Gippal.

"First of all, that doesn't make any sense because I have no idea what you are talking about!" He tried not to raise his voice, but he was so confused by the way she was acting and so eager to get dinner done that he wanted to know what was wrong with her.

"Gippal," she sniffled and took his hands in hers. "You mean so much to me, I want you to know that."

"And you mean a lot to me, which is why—" He started to lead her toward the kitchen, but her feet were planted securely on the floor. "Come on, Cid's Girl, I have a surprise for you!"

"Gippal, please." He stopped and the broad smile that was on his face was replaced by a slight frown.

"Continue then." His hands started to sweat as he waited for her to go on. He felt a slight twinge on the back of his head, but resisted the urge to scratch it so he could give her his full attention.

"I want to break up."

Gippal felt like he was socked in the stomach by a blitzball that was thrown at full force. He took his hands out of Rikku's and had to walk a few steps away from her.

"I'm sorry, I really am. But, I just feel like I'm not an independent girl and I miss being that way. I mean, that's how I was in the Gullwings, and I really miss it…" She trailed off when Gippal put up a hand to stop her. After a second, he faced her again and to Rikku's favor, he didn't cry. He was too hurt to cry.

"What, were you just running low on dramatic irony or something? Did you have to do this _tonight?_" Rikku cocked her head and blinked a few times at Gippal's outburst. He chuckled out of disbelief that she would break up with him on the night that he planned on proposing.

"I don't understand," she stated as she shook her head.

"This is what you wanted to tell me tonight? And here I was thinking that it was going to be something sexy or funny or just _anything _else besides the fact that you wanted to break up with me!" He looked at Rikku as another tear fell down her cheek. "Why are you crying?"

"Because this is hard on me too, Gippal! We've been friends for so long and I know this is making our friendship into a wounded chocobo, but I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore! I can't live a lie, it's not fair to either of us." Her tears were now tears of anger. _Why doesn't he understand where I'm going with this? _She thought as he placed his hands on his hips.

"What do you mean, 'you can't live a lie?'" He took a step toward her, but she took a step backward; almost as if she was afraid that he was going to hurt her. She knew that he would never hurt her, but she didn't want him to touch her right now. "Is that all this is to you? A lie?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that," she said as she looked up at him. "I can't go on with this relationship. I know in the long run that it wouldn't be fair to you."

"Then tell me something," he said as he looked into her eyes.

"What?" She asked softly, almost in a whisper. Gippal was surprised that he even heard her.

"Tell me you don't love me." Rikku bowed her head as she watched her tears fall to the ground and form a cluster of small puddles. He sighed when he knew that was her response. "If you still love me, why are you leaving me?"

"I can't explain it," she said as she shook her head. "I just know in my heart that it's the right thing to do."

"Just…just leave, Rikku." Her jaw dropped at his harsh tone, but then closed her mouth when she figured he was right. Nothing would change by her standing in the doorway reiterating what she already said, so leaving would be the best thing to do. He turned around and placed his hands against the railing of the stairs for support. "I'll see you next week at the treaty signing."

"Are you going to talk to me there, or are you just going to ignore me?" Her voice was quiet and full of hope.

"I'm not sure yet, but please leave and let me think."

Without another word, Rikku walked toward the door and opened it. She looked over her shoulder at Gippal and saw that he was looking at something in his hand. She couldn't see what it was and she didn't want to ask, so she walked out the door and shut it behind her.

The ring sparkled between his fingers as he looked at it. He turned it around, letting the princess cut diamond catch the light. It was beautiful. The second Gippal saw it, he knew it was the one for it sparkled like Rikku's eyes when she looked at him. He never thought that sparkle could be duplicated, yet he saw it in this ring. He fingered the perfect platinum band all the way around. It was solid, whole, continuous. _Heh, why couldn't my relationship with Rikku be that way?? _

He put the ring back in the small velvet box as he walked into the kitchen. The candles were dripping wax onto the satin tablecloth, causing hardened pools to surround the candlestick holders. He knew that the tablecloth was now ruined and would have to be thrown out. He placed the box on the counter, flipped the light switch and walked over to the candles to blow them out. The smoke billowed up toward the ceiling and the pungent odor filled up the room, causing Gippal to cough.

Not knowing what else to do, he started to slowly clear the dishes, silverware, and other things off the table. He was going through the motions. He wasn't sure what to think. Never in his life had he felt so numb.

And it was all over a girl.

_Something needs to be done here. I can't stand feeling sorry for myself right now…_He started to place the crystal wine glasses in the cupboard when an idea flew into his head. He gasped when he thought of it, causing the glass to fall out of his hand onto the hardwood floor. Gippal watched as the glass shattered and flew to every corner of the room, realizing that it created a perfect metaphor for what just happened. Something once so beautiful and whole was able to shatter in the matter of a split second.

He shook his head at the sad thought and stepped over the shards, not bothering to pick them up. He had work to do.


	2. Suspicion Starts

**Thanks for all the reviews, they're well appreciated! Not much else I want to say...so I'll let you read!**

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2. Suspicion Starts

"Yunie!" Rikku cried as she saw her cousin for the first time in about a year. After Tidus and Yuna's wedding, Rikku went back to Bikanel to help rebuild Home with Gippal and her father and built her own home there. She always had the thought to go visit them in Besaid again, they were only an airship ride away, but she figured they were doing mushy love stuff and she didn't want to get in the middle of that. She ran over and tightly squeezed Yuna until she felt she wouldn't be able to breathe anymore.

"Rikku…Rikku, Yunie can't breathe." Yuna and Rikku both giggled as they separated and Rikku jumped into Tidus' arms.

"Hey, Rikku!" He said as he lifted her off the ground with his embrace. "How've you been?"

"Eh, can't complain." Rikku blew off her previous week's emotions as she hugged Yuna again. "Oh, I've missed you guys so much! We can't go that long without seeing each other ever again, okay?""

"Be careful, Rikku," Tidus said as he separated Rikku and Yuna slightly.

"That's right! The baby!" Rikku squealed as she bent over to look at Yuna's pregnant belly. Yuna was just over eight months pregnant, so how Rikku didn't notice it when she hugged her was beyond Tidus' comprehension. "Aww! When is she going to come out so Auntie Rikku can spoil her?"

"It could be a boy too, ya know, Rikku," Yuna said as she placed her hands on her stomach and Tidus put his arms around her.

"No, it'll be a girl, I just know it." Rikku slightly bounced on her toes in excitement as she thought of how she's going to have a new baby to play with in just a few weeks.

"Well, Vidina wants it to be a boy," Tidus said as he moved his hand up and down his wife's back.

"Yeah, so do you and Wakka, don't deny it," Yuna teased. "You just want to be able to teach him how to play blitz. You do know that if we have a girl you can still teach her to blitz, right?"

"With your luck, Tidus, she'll want to be a magic girl and have nothing to do with athletics," Rikku said as she tapped Tidus on the chest. Tidus nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, probably. But that would make her Aunt Lulu happy," Tidus replied and Yuna gave him a questioning look. He saved himself by adding on, "and it would make her daddy proud, too!"

"This baby is going to have a complex with how many relatives she's going to have," Rikku said as she thought about it. "She's not going to know who her real relatives are and who her 'real' relatives are. I mean, she's going to have an Aunt Painey, Uncle Baralai, Aunt Lulu, Uncle Wakka, Auntie Rikku—"

"Wait, Rikku. If you're Yuna's first cousin, wouldn't that just make the baby your second cousin?" Tidus asked as Rikku stopped bouncing and scrunched her nose.

"Oh boo," Rikku said as she thought about it. "I think you're right. However, I still want the baby to call me Auntie Rikku. Can she?"

"Sure," Yuna said with a chuckle. "She _or_ he will call you Auntie Rikku. But you gotta give it time."

"Can't we just force her out?" Rikku said as she gently poked Yuna's stomach.

"Rikku!" Rikku whipped around as a familiar voice said her name. She almost froze when she recognized that it was from Gippal, who was running toward her. It had been almost a week since they had broken up and this was the first time that he had even acknowledged her existence. "Rikku!"

"Hey, Gippal!" She said as friendly as she could with a wave. As much as she loved Gippal, she knew that she couldn't be anything but friends with him for the time being. Maybe some time in the future something could happen but she didn't think she could handle that right now. _Gippal the friend, I'm all for it…_They had so much of a past and she never wanted him to regret anything that happened. _Except maybe that one time where he wanted to see if he was stronger than me and I kicked him across the room. He started it!! _She giggled as she remembered the look of shock on his face. He told her not to hold back, and she didn't.

"Hey," he panted as he reached her. He slightly bent over and put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Ya know, for running around as much as you do in Bikanel, you're out of shape," she giggled as she patted him on the back.

"Hey, Yuna and Tidus, what's up?" He asked as he put a hand up in welcoming. He was still hunched over, so Yuna and Tidus couldn't help but laugh at him. "Just give me a minute, here."

"That's fine," Tidus said as he shook his head. "It's nice to see you as well, Gippal."

"Hmm, Tidus," Yuna said, tapping her husband and pointing at Gippal. "That's how you and Wakka have looked the last few times you've come back home from practicing blitz. And you wonder why Lulu and I get worried?"

"We're out of practice that's all!" Tidus said as he put his hands up in defense. "Besides, we just look at it as two overly emotional pregnant women worrying over nothing."

"Wait!" Rikku gasped as she comprehended what Tidus just said. "Lulu's pregnant again too??"

"Yep," Yuna said as Rikku let out another squeal.

"YES!!! More little children to corrupt!" Rikku threw her hand up in the air and started to dance back and forth.

"That's a frightening thought," Gippal said with a chuckle as he stood up. "That's all we need, more of you running around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rikku said defensively as her smile instantly turned into a frown. She crossed her arms over her chest and started to tap her foot. Yuna and Tidus just looked back and forth at Rikku and Gippal, sensing tension so thick that Tidus' Caladbolg couldn't even cut through it.

"Cid's girl, relax, it was just a joke." He said as he ruffled her hair. Rikku didn't give up the way she stood.

"Hmph. I have a name." Rikku snapped and Gippal scoffed.

"Um, Tidus, let's go check into our hotel," Yuna said as she pointed in the direction of where the Luca Suites were.

"G—Good idea." Tidus said, sensing that this conversation was not the right spot to be in right now and they started to walk off.

"I'll see you guys in a bit," Rikku said cheerfully toward them as they waved, then she turned her icy glare toward Gippal again. "Okay, look. I know we broke up. That doesn't mean that you have to treat me the way you always do!"

"Rikku, you haven't freaked out over that nickname since we started to date, so why change now?" He asked her as she fixed her hair from when he messed it up.

"Things are…different now." She said quietly as she looked down at her fingers. A loud beep came from Gippal and she jumped. "What was that?"

"My wireless communication device," he said as he reached in his pocket to grab it. "It's Nehl from work. I wonder what he needs. He knows not to contact me on this trip unless it's an emergency, so this better be good. Hold on a second."

Rikku sighed impatiently as Gippal took out the device, walked a good ten feet away and started to talk into it. She crouched down and started to play with the rocks that have begun coming loose from the cobblestone street. She watched as an ant crawled over a stick and through the grooves as she tried to overhear as much of the conversation as she could. Unfortunately, she heard mostly static from the device and Gippal mumbled too softly for her make much out.

"What do you mean?" She heard Gippal cry out. She looked over at him and he had his hand on his forehead and Nehl spoke louder.

"Rikku…here…looking…you," was all she could make out. _Huh?_ She thought as she stood up again, hoping she could hear more. _I'm right here!_

"What did you tell her?" Gippal said through clenched teeth. _What is going on? _Rikku thought as Gippal looked over at her. He faced away again so Rikku couldn't hear the reply that Nehl gave him. "Oh cred. Look, whatever, I'll find her and deal with it. Bye, man."

"What was that all about?" Rikku asked as Gippal placed the communication unit back into his pocket and walked toward her. The fact that she clearly heard her name made her even more curious and suspicious about why Nehl would try to contact Gippal.

"Nothing. Uh, forget it," he said as he slightly fidgeted. Rikku narrowed her eyes at him and he scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I, um, gotta go. I'll see ya later, okay?"

"O…kay…" She said slowly as she watched him leave. At first he walked slowly then sped up his pace until he was at a full out run. _That boy just keeps getting weirder and weirder…_She thought as she walked toward the inn where Yuna and Tidus were staying.

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"Oh cred, what am I going to do now?" Gippal said out loud as he leaned against a brick wall in an alleyway. He rested his head against the cold brick as he looked up at the blue sky as he tried to think of his next move. "If someone discovers her, I'm done for! It was just an experiment! I didn't think that it would actually work…"

With a loud sigh, he walked away from the wall and started to search the city of Luca for his experiment that was on the loose.


	3. The Crazy Al Bhed

**I don't really have any author's notes for this chapter, sorry! However, this story is completely written now...(it only took me five days!) so it will be posted chapter by chapter...there are only 12 chapters, so it's short compared to the two other chapter fics I have written. However, it is my favorite out of everything I have written...so yay! I am also in the process of writing a Final Fantasy VI fic about the relationship of Locke and Rachel. (Locke Cole is my favorite Final Fantasy character by the way! swoon) Hopefully that one will be up soon as well. Okay, I guess I did have a few things to say...hee hee...Happy reading!**

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3. The Crazy Al Bhed

"So what was that all about?" Yuna asked as Rikku entered the hotel room Yuna and Tidus were sharing. "I thought things were going well with the two of you. I wasn't exactly foreseeing any trouble in paradise."

"Well, we broke up like a week ago, and ever since, he's been getting really strange." Rikku scrunched her nose as she continued to think of what she overheard Nehl say. _Why did he say that I was looking for Gippal? I wouldn't look for him…I want to give him space and time to heal…because I know that's what I need right now…_

"You guys…broke up?" Yuna said as she gave a worried glance toward Tidus. Tidus obviously didn't have the slightest idea of what the look was for so he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah. I told him how I missed being the independent woman that I was when we were all part of the Gullwings. I don't like being tied down. It's not for me." Yuna sat down on the bed, holding her stomach the entire way down. "You okay, Yunie?"

"I'm fine," she said as she sighed. "It's just that, Gippal called me about a week ago and asked me for some recipes and stuff. He had a really romantic night planned out for the two of you."

"Oh no," Rikku said as a pit started to form in her stomach. The pieces were all starting to fall into place, and she didn't like what the picture was forming. "That's what his surprise was. That's why he was so pushy about me going over to his house. Th…That's why he told me to get all dressed up."

"I'm sure he's okay now, Rikku, it was only dinner," she added, not bringing up the ring. She wasn't sure if Rikku knew about it, so she didn't want to be the bearer of more bad news.

"I hope so," Rikku said as she started to play with the end of one of her braids that hung around her face. She cleared her throat to dry the tears that were forming in her eyes and decided to start a new topic. The Gippal one still was an open wound that stung when salt was applied, so it was her plan to avoid it at all costs. "So, uh, do you know when everyone else will be arriving?"

"Lulu and Wakka said that they were going to leave sometime today and I haven't heard from Nooj or Baralai," Tidus said as he lifted a large suitcase onto the bed to unpack it. "Sweet Zaon, Yuna! What did you pack?"

"Just some necessities, dear," Yuna replied as Tidus moaned. "It's not _that _much."

"I'm just going to check if you packed the entire village of Besaid in here somewhere," he stated as he started to sift through the suitcase. Yuna playfully scoffed and threw a pillow at him. "Nope. I just had to check. However, there are still about another three suitcases here. We're here for three days, Yuna. You didn't need to bring half the island with you."

"Very funny, Tidus," Yuna grabbed another pillow that was next to her and tried to prop herself up.

"Here, let me help you." Rikku watched in admiration as Tidus grabbed the pillow that Yuna threw at him off the floor and lovingly helped her get comfortable. _Although, I'm not sure how anyone could get comfortable with that huge baby tummy sticking out! _He kissed her gently on the forehead and squeezed her hand, making Rikku miss being in a relationship. _No! No no no! I'm an independent woman now! I don't need a guy to hang on to! _"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks," Yuna stuck her tongue out as she shifted her weight again. "I want this thing out of me!"

"Give her time, Yunie," Rikku said as she walked over to her pregnant cousin. Yuna let out a giggle at Rikku because, again, she insisted that the baby was a girl. "However, I agree. I want her out too so I can play with her!"

Rikku had to admit that it was rather odd to see Yuna in maternity wear and not revealing clothing. When they were both in the Gullwings, they had their share of clothing with short skirts and shorts along with shirts with plunging necklines. Rikku wasn't complaining though, she felt it easier to move around in her thief outfit than anything else that she owned. Not to mention that it was able to catch Gippal's attention, so that was a plus at that point in time. _I guess that's just proof that she grew up and I'm still just a kid…_

"Well, I'll let you guys unpack," Rikku said as she stretched, reaching her fingers out as far as they could go. "I'm gonna go shopping or see if anyone else arrived yet."

"Are we not entertaining enough for you, Rikku?" Tidus asked as he feigned sadness and pouted. "Gosh, I see how it is."

"Aw, you know I love you guys," she said as she hugged Tidus again. "I'm just antsy and I want to see what's going on in this town. I haven't been here in a while."

"Okay, you have fun," Yuna said as she rested her hands on her stomach. "Don't spend too much of Uncle Cid's money."

"Well, he entrusted me with his Standard Spira Gil card, so I'll try to behave myself." Rikku flashed them an exaggerated smile as she opened the door.

"Have fun," Tidus said as Rikku shut the door behind her. "All right, I guess I better finish unpacking."

"Honey, I would love to help," Yuna started as Tidus smiled at her. He knelt next to the bed she was reclining in, grabbed her hand, and gently brushed her lips with his own.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said as he looked her in the eyes. "Besides, you can pay me back eventually."

"Hey, part of this is your fault," she teased as she pointed to her stomach. "However, I am the one carrying it, so I think our debt is even."

"All right, I'll accept that," Tidus said with a chuckle as he kissed her again. "Back to unpacking."

"Yay, I'll observe." He had to laugh at the girlish grin on her face as he walked back over to the pile of suitcases.

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"Oh, good old Luca," Baralai said as he and Paine stepped off the dock where their boat stopped. "It's been quite a while since I've been here."

"Yeah, I guess," Paine said dryly as she looked around. "It still looks the same though."

"Not much changes in this world," Baralai replied as he placed his arm around Paine. "I think Gippal said that he would be here early, so let's go have a look around. He shouldn't be too hard to find—the boy seems to stand out in the crowd."

"Well, _he_ doesn't really stand out, but his girlfriend sure does," Paine said as she noticed a very familiar blob of blonde bouncing through the crowd. "See what I mean? I could point out that bounce anywhere."

"Let's go see if she knows where Gippal is." Baralai and Paine made their way over to Rikku, who was frantically walking up to people and asking them things that resulted in her receiving bewildered looks. She pouted in defeat as she sat down on one of the benches.

"Hey, Rikku," Paine said as they reached Rikku. She looked up and smiled.

"Hi!" She blinked several times and stood up. "You're…" After a few seconds of her looking determined, she focused on them again and smiled. "Baralai and Paine!"

"Y..Yes, Rikku, we know that." Baralai said as he and Paine exchanged a confuse glance. "Are you okay?"

"I'm looking for Gippal. He seems to have run away from me." Paine rolled her eyes at the dependency that Rikku had on Gippal and gave Baralai a look. "He thought he could leave without me following him, but he thought wrong. So here I am! Have you seen him?"

"You deal with this insanity. I can't handle it," Paine whispered to Baralai. He simply chuckled and faced Rikku again.

"Well, we're looking for him too, so if you want to come with us, you can." Rikku started to nod her head at Baralai in response to his statement and Paine thought that her head was going to fall right off. "Okay, where do you think we should start?"

"I'm going to go find Gippal, bye!"

"Wait, what?" The two of them watched Rikku disappear into the crowd again and they couldn't help but sigh. "Well, that goes against my statement where I said not much changes in Spira, because she definitely has…changed."

"And to think that I thought I had it bad when she was in the Gullwings. I don't think I could've tolerated her like this for longer than five minutes," Paine said as she rubbed her temple with her forefinger. "I know this sounds scary, but I actually think that Yuna had a sane influence on her."

"Well, she was just looking for Gippal, that's all," Baralai said with a shrug. Paine sighed and he placed a kiss on her cheek. "Come on, let's go see if we can find him and tell him that—"

"Baralai! Dr. P!" They whipped their heads over to where the voice was coming from.

"Well, well, well, speak of the devil," Paine said as Gippal ran over to them.

"Hi, Gippal," Baralai started as Gippal gave him a huge hug. "Nice to see ya too, man."

"So, Gippal, we just saw your overly dependent girlfriend," Paine announced matter-of-factly and Gippal whipped his head toward her.

"You…You did? Where?" Both Baralai and Paine pointed in the direction of where she happily walked off to, and Gippal gasped. He grabbed onto Paine's shoulders, causing Paine to grimace at him. "How was she?"

"The same Rikku, only more spastic," Paine admitted as she pushed his arms off of her shoulders. "She kinda reminded me of how you are right now, now that I think about it."

"What was she wearing?" He asked, ignoring Paine's sarcastic remark.

"The same skanky things that girl has been wearing for the last two years."

"Was her hair down or up?" He asked, Paine crossing her arms.

"Gippal, the next time she talks to me, I'll get my sphere recorder out to save myself from the game of 20 questions." Gippal sighed and Paine continued. "I've been great, thanks for asking. You've been great as well? Well, isn't that nice."

"Sorry," Gippal apologized as he nervously looked out toward the crowded streets. "I just…remembered that I need to give her something. So I will catch up with you later okay? I promise!"

"Okay!" Baralai shouted after Gippal, who was sprinting back into town.

"I don't get it," Paine started as she and Baralai started to walk to their hotel. "What is going on in Bikanel that's making all the Al Bhed go crazy? Well, crazier than usual anyway."

"Um, a sand storm brought in a new crazy disease?" Baralai joked as Paine cracked a smile. "I really have no idea."

"Come on," Paine said with a slight smile. "Let's go see if we can actually find some sanity in this town."


	4. The Confusion in Luca Continues

**Fanfare! Here is the update of the night...Chapter 4! Things start to get more confusing for everyone in Luca now...and the humor is starting to remotely enter the story. (Maybe it's humorous to me because I know the ending? Lol) Oh man, I am madly in love with my muse right now...She's being very good to me!!! Okay, I hope you all are enjoying this story...and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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4.The Confusion in Luca Continues

_Cred, cred, vilg, cred!_ Gippal cursed as he roamed the streets of Luca looking for some trace of his experiment. _What was I thinking when I made this? Was I that heartbroken and desperate that I had to do something this insane and idiotic! If anyone found out about it, they would think that I completely lost my mind…_

He turned a corner and gasped when he saw Rikku looking in a store window. _Dammit, Rikku! Now is not the time to be window shopping!_

He ran over to her and spun her around, making her shriek. She almost instinctively knocked him out, thinking he was a burglar, but stopped when she realized that it was only Gippal.

"Oh, hey, Gippal!" She said cheerfully as she brushed off the invisible dirt that was on her shoulders. Instead of replying, he started to circle her. "What are you doing? What, were you a Zu in another life or something?"

"No, I'm just curious about something," he stated, leaving Rikku speechless. "Have you, by any chance, gotten any strange reactions from people today?"

"Aside from you, you mean?" Rikku said with a slight laugh. "You gotta admit, Gippal, you've been acting really peculiar around me today. However, the circling thing is the most entertaining."

"Did you know that Paine and Baralai were here?" He asked, afraid of her reaction.

"They are?" Rikku said as she let out a squeal.

"So, you didn't see them?" He asked as he furrowed his forehead. Rikku shook her head as she squealed again, causing Gippal to let out a groan. "That's what I was afraid of."

"Where are they?" She asked excitedly as he shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, some help you are."

"What are you doing hanging around here anyway?" He asked her as she threw her hands in the air.

"I started to go shopping, but then I got pretty bored. So now I'm just aimlessly roaming the streets of Luca, half hoping that something interesting happens. However, that red dress in there is an interesting thing to me." Gippal chuckled at her overactive nature.

"Well, maybe you should go back to the hotel and wait there in case something interesting, besides a new red dress, happens," he said as Rikku rocked on the balls of her feet.

"Wait for what? Why, is some big fiend going to attack Luca?" She started to bounce on her toes as she thought of the possibility of fighting again.

"Not that I know of, but I wouldn't doubt it," he said, thinking that would be the best way to get to go back to the hotel. _I know that she wouldn't run and hide, but she would at least go tell Tidus and Yuna about it…_ "Ya know, it's a common trend for any big gathering in Spira. A lot of people show up, then a big fiend follows and tries to snack on them."

"Yay! Then that'll give me something to do while you try to look important by signing your name on a piece of paper!" Although Rikku knew that a fiend wasn't in the city of Luca right now, it still gave her something to make fun of Gippal for. _Just like the old days…_

"Yeah, thanks," hereplied sarcasticallyas he put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Anyway, I'm on a mission right now, so I'll talk to you later."

"A mission? What kind of mission? Wait, do I have to dress you up as a huge moogle? Paine and I had to do that to Yunie once," Rikku let out a giggle at the thought of one of their first missions as the Gullwings. When Leblanc stole Yuna's garment grid, they had to get it back somehow without the rest of Luca recognizing Yuna. "We couldn't have had two Yunas in Luca at the same time. Everyone would've gotten confused. After that mission, that got me thinking. What if there was a Rikku imposter? Could you imagine two Rikkus at the same place at the same time?"

"I prayed I never would have to worry about that," he muttered as he looked at Rikku again.

"What was that?" She asked, not hearing his comment.

"D'ah, nothing." Rikku again had to giggle at his behavior as he shifted his weight. "This is my cue to leave since that awkward feeling is returning in the air."

"Okay," Rikku said as he started to walk away. "Wait, Gippal, you are joining us all for dinner, right? We have reservations at The Golden Staffat six!"

"If all goes well, yeah," he said as he continued to walk off.

"Well, I guess I better go get ready then!" Rikku exclaimed as she hopped off toward the hotel.

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"Knock knock," Paine said as she peeked into Yuna and Tidus' hotel room. Tidus was still putting clothes into the dressers, but looked up when he heard Paine's voice. "Hey."

"Hey, Paine!" Tidus said as he walked over to her. He knew better than to hug her, he made that mistake at he and Yuna's wedding. She let him hug her, oddly enough, but gave him the most violated look when they separated. He was able to use the excuse that he had too much to drink, although he was completely sober. However, he learned his lesson and refrained from another hug. When Baralai walked in, Tidus shook his hand. "Hey, Baralai."

"Hey, Tidus. We asked the people at the front desk if you guys were here, so we decided to come find you." Baralai said as he looked around. "Where's Yuna?"

"Over there, sleeping," he said as he gestured toward the room where the bed was.

"Yeah, I can't imagine that carrying a baby would be an easy task," Baralai said as Tidus and Paine nodded. Baralai tapped Paine on the shoulder and a broad smile appeared on his face. "See what you have to look forward to, Paine?"

"That wasn't funny, Baralai," she said with a grim look on her face. When he noticed the look, his smile dropped and he looked at his feet.

"No, it wasn't," he replied quickly and Paine nodded.

"Yeah, so anyway," Tidus said, trying to break the ice. "I'm in the need of some fresh air. Let's go outside and walk around."

"What about Yuna?" Baralai asked as he motioned toward the room she was in. "You think she'll be okay?"

"I'll leave her a note and lock the doors. She'll be fine but I don't want to leave for very long," Tidus said as he scribbled a note down on the hotel paper with the pen that was on the counter. "Ya know, you would think a ritzy hotel like this one would give us something better than this tiny pad of paper and cheap five gil pen. I don't know, maybe I'm expecting too much."

"Let's go, Tidus," Paine said as Tidus finished the note and they started to walk out to the Luca streets.

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"Hey guys!" Rikku said as she saw Tidus, Baralai, and Paine. "Paine! Baralai!" She tightly wrapped her arms around Baralai. "I've missed you guys so much!"

"You…You saw us earlier today, Rikku," Baralai said slowly as he put his hands on Rikku's shoulders. She narrowed her eyes at him in confusion and to her surprise, Baralai was giving her the same look.

"N..No, I didn't," she said as she carefully eyed the three of them.

"Yeah, you did. At the docks. It was about twenty minutes ago actually," Paine said as she inspected Rikku. "Wait, were you wearing that earlier today?"

"Yeah, I haven't changed all day." She innocently looked over at Tidus for a second opinion, who thankfully nodded. "Are you guys okay? I think it's something in the sea air or something; makes everyone speak crazy talk."

"I guess so," Paine said slowly, figuring that Rikku was going insane as well.

"Done spending your daddy's money?" Tidus said as he looked at her empty hands. "Wait, you didn't buy anything."

"Yeah, I know I didn't," Rikku said with a huff. "I was looking in the window of one of the stores I wanted to go in and then Gippal walked up to me and freaked out that I was out by myself. It's a shame really, because I saw a really cute red dress that I wanted to buy in there. But yeah, back on the Gippal topic, I don't understand what's gotten into him lately."

"He was acting strangely when he saw Paine and I, as well," Baralai said as he looked up at the sky. "Now that I think about it, it was right after we saw you."

"But you didn't see me," Rikku made clear as Baralai chuckled. "I haven't seen you guys since Yuna and Tidus' wedding. A million apologies about that by the way. I've been busy helping my pop and Gippal fix up Home."

"Gippal was looking for you though, and he seemed pretty adamant about it," Paine stated as she tapped her toe against the stone road. She ignored Rikku's apology because she was too deep in thought about why her friend was acting so strange earlier. "After we said that we saw you, he started to ask us a million questions, then when I didn't know the answer to them, he ran off trying to find you."

"He..ran off to find me?" Rikku asked with a slight smile. _Ever since I've gotten here, he's been constantly looking for me. Maybe he's trying to grovel or something, with hopes that I'll take him back…Not like I will though. I like being single…Right? _"Huh."

"Maybe we should corner him and ask him what his deal is during dinner," Tidus proposed. "However, I think that we should go wake up Yuna. I don't really want to leave her by herself for that long."

"Why not? We all know that she's fully capable of taking care of herself in a sticky situation, knowing that she has found herself wound up in the stickiest of sticky situations." They started to walk back into the hotel as Rikku found hilarity in her own sentence. "Ha! 'Stickiest of sticky situations.' Try saying that statement five times fast!"

"We'll let you try that one out," Paine said as Baralai opened the door for them. "Do we know when Nooj and Leblanc are going to show up to grace us with their presence?"

"Nooj contacted me a few days ago stating that they would arrive today some time," Baralai said as they all stepped onto the lift that would bring them up to their floor. "I'm pretty positive that they're staying in the same hotel as we are, so we can tell the front desk to contact us when they arrive."

"Are they going to be here in time for dinner?" Rikku asked, slighting bouncing on her toes. "Because I don't want to wait much longer. My tummy is speaking to me and announcing that it needs to be fed."

"Yeah, I feel you on that one. As soon as we wake up Yuna we can all get ready to go eat," Tidus said as they reached the door to the suite he was sharing with Yuna. "I say about an hour?"

"I guess I can tell my rumbly tummy to wait that long," Rikku said as she rubbed her stomach. "Not longer though!"

"Okay, that works," Tidus said as they all went into their separate rooms.

Rikku opened the door to her room and stepped inside. She was originally going to be sharing a room with Gippal, but due to the breakup, she called and ordered another room for herself. Considering how many people were going to show up for this ceremony, she was lucky that she was able to get a new room on the same floor as her friends. She took the bandana out of her hair, letting her hair fall naturally, and threw it on the couch of the living room portion of the suite.

She figured she wanted to look nice because she knew they were going to the nicest restaurant in Luca—The Golden Staff. It was a seafood and steak restaurant, and although Rikku wasn't a huge fan of either, she knew that they had 'to die for' desserts. That was definitely a big enough reason for her to get excited. She threw several things out of her suitcases to find the outfit that she wanted to wear after she got out of the shower. She decided on a nice pink skirt with a lacy white top; not too fancy, but fancy enough. To top off the outfit, she bought white stiletto shoes that tied around the ankle. She saw them in Bikanel and couldn't help herself from buying them.

After hopping out of the shower, she got dressed then dried her hair and brushed it until it shone in silky waves down her back. She put on silver hoop earrings, a silver necklace, a silver bracelet, and a lot of makeup. She usually didn't wear this much make up, but she felt like she wanted to look extra nice. _You never know, I might find the man of my dreams tonight!_ She giggled at herself as she put on her Al Bhed Angel perfume and tied up her shoes.

She exhaled as she looked at her reflection. _Yay! _She thought to herself as she twisted and turned. She looked over at the clock and realized that she just had enough time to walk to Yuna and Tidus' room before her hour was up.


	5. Rikku's Discovery

**So. genius me realized that I can't count to seven. As I wrote the chapters, I mysteriously forgot the number six....so I was a number off. That means that this fic only has 11chapters, but it's quite all right. It wouldn't make any sense if it was longer...and I'm satisfied with the way it is. Okay, I'm off to sleep now for I only slept for two and a half hours last night. (Technically this morning because I fell asleep at 7:30am. Booo.) I also have to drive two and a half hours to go back up to school as well...Great. Another fantastic semester of living in a ten by ten box that is commonly known as a dorm room. Lol, I'm done complaining, I promise! Have a good night everyone!**

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5. Rikku's Discovery

Rikku was excited to see that Lulu, Wakka, Vidina, Nooj and Leblanc had arrived at the Luca Suites as she was getting ready. She thanked her lucky stars when they were ready to go to dinner immediately because she was starting to get very hungry. Rikku knew that she was happiest when she was able to eat a five-course meal, so she coaxed them to the door as fast as she could after giving hugs.

"Wait, shouldn't we wait for Gippal?" Rikku asked as she stopped in her tracks. Although her stomach alarm was ringing loudly, she was curious to where he was. "I feel kinda bad leaving without him."

"Well, he knows that our reservations are at six, so he'll probably meet us there," Baralai said as he looked at his watch. "We don't want to lose our reservations."

"Gippal's never on time anyway," Nooj said with a chuckle. "Remember, Baralai and Paine, how we were always waiting for him in the Crimson Squad?"

"Something was wrong when he _was_ on time," Paine added as they continued to walk out the door, leaving Rikku in her spot for a second. _He was always punctual with me…_

"Okay, I guess," she said quietly as she ran to catch up with the others.

They all happily talked as they walked to The Golden Staff. Rikku was overjoyed to be around her closest friends again, knowing that the last time they were all together was about a year ago. Now so much has happened between all of them that kept them busy; Paine teaching warrior classes at the Bevelle Temple, Baralai and his Praetor duties, Nooj and his Meyvn duties, Tidus and Yuna settling in to married life, Wakka and Lulu's stories about Vidina growing up and how Lulu was pregnant again, Rikku helping Cid with Home, etc.

When they arrived, Tidus went up to the greeter to let them know that they were there. After only about a minute and a half, they were led to their table and they all sat down. There were several waiters tending to them, and it made Rikku slightly uneasy. She wasn't used to being treated like this, but she figured that's what it's like when you're the High Summoner, Meyvn of the Youth League, or Praetor of New Yevon.

She sighed as she placed her napkin in her lap and tried to listen to the four conversations that were going on at once; Wakka and Tidus talking about blitz, Lulu and Yuna talking about pregnancies, Leblanc boring Paine by talking about Nooj, and Baralai and Nooj talking about their speech that they were going to give. _What's taking Gippal so long? I really hope he didn't forget. I mean, I did remind him about it…Even Baralai said that Gippal knew our reservations were for six o' clock, and it's now quarter after… _Rikku thought to herself. She traced her finger along the top of the linen tablecloth as she thought of how out of place she felt.

"Hey, everyone!" Rikku smiled when she heard Gippal's voice. She waited a beat before she looked up at him, and she had to prevent her jaw from becoming slightly ajar when sheplaced her eyes on him. He was dressed up in a nice black suit, and he looked amazing. _He's even wearing a tie! _Rikku thought with a giggle. She knew how much he hated ties, and she was surprised that he actually knew how to tie his own. Usually he would attempt to do it, but he would botch it up so much that Rikku always had to fix it for him anyway.

"Gippal, you made it!" Yuna said as Gippal walked over to their table. He swallowed when he realized that the only empty seat was between Baralai and Rikku. _This is going to be awkward…_

"Yeah, sorry I'm late," he apologized as he sat down and looked over at Rikku. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her outfit, _Ooooh, and her hair's down…_He thought as she warmly smiled at him. "I've been um, dealing with some non-official Faction business."

"Is everything okay?" Baralai asked as Gippal nodded.

"Of course," he stated as he took a sip of water from the glass that was placed in front of his plate. "Couldn't, um, couldn't be better."

"You sure?" Paine asked as he nodded again. "Okay, because you've been acting a little more edgy than usual lately."

"Just nervous for the speech that B, the Noojster, and I are going to make tomorrow," he said as he patted Baralai on the back. "I never was one to speak in front of a whole stadium full of people."

"Yet you can sure shoot your mouth off to us!" Rikku teased as she patted him on the back. Everyone had to laugh and even Gippal let out a quiet chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the Al Bhed in me," he admitted as he looked at the menu that was placed in front of him. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. Let's see what we have a choice of."

After a few minutes of everyone looking through their menus, the head waiter walked over to Gippal and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir?"

"Yes?" Gippal asked as he reached for his water glass.

"There is a young woman at the door who is looking for you." Gippal almost spit out his water over everyone in shock. He swallowed and coughed several times, causing everyone stare at him. "Shall I bring her here?"

"No," Gippal choked out, patting his chest. "Tell her I'll be right there."

"Yes, sir." The waiter walked off toward the entrance of the restaurant, everyone's eyes following him. After the waiter was out of sight, they all fixated their eyes on Gippal, who was turning slightly pale.

"A girl, huh?" Rikku said in a teasing manner, trying to stay as chipper as possible as Gippal took another sip of his water. _Oh no…a girl? _"I didn't know that you had a new girlfriend already!"

"I don't have a new girlfriend, Rikku," he stated as he loosened his tie and stood up. He exhaled and started to walk toward the lobby of the restaurant. "I guess you can just call it an improvement on the last one I had."

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"Now I'm curious," Rikku stated as she watched Gippal's every step. _Talk about out with the old and in with the new…_She thought as she turned back around and looked at her hands in her lap. _I mean, I know I was the one who broke up with him and everything, but I didn't want him to move on so quickly…_

"I'm confused," Leblanc stated as she looked over at Rikku.

"There's a new one," Paine whispered to Baralai, loudly enough so everyone could hear.

"That's very cute, Paine," Leblanc said sharply, not taking her eyes off Rikku. "Rikku, why would Gippal have a new girlfriend? I thought that you two were dating, love."

"Um, we broke up last week," Rikku replied simply, not taking her eyes off of her hands. Yuna slightly cleared her throat as she looked back down at her menu.

"Well, everything looks so good on this menu that I can't choose what to order." Rikku looked over at Yuna in silent thanks for changing the subject, but she was still curious. While everyone was engrossed in their menus, Rikku stealthily knocked her knife off the table and onto the ground.

"Whoopsies!" She bent over to grab it and held it in her hand. "I guess I'm going to need a new knife. I'll be right back," she said as she took her napkin off of her lap and placed it on the table in front of her. She stood up and started to walk toward the lobby thinking to herself, _I'm not technically spying on him, I'm just getting a new set of silverware. Although, I did knock the knife over on purpose…Okay, I'm spying…_

She straightened her hair as she crept behind the row of booths that were next to the lobby. She had been to this restaurant before, so she was fully aware that the booths had windows where she could see what was going on in the lobby. _In other words, I can see who Gippal is talking to…_

She found an empty booth and knelt down on one of the seats so she could look through the window. The glass was checkered—part frosted and part transparent—so Rikku had to position herself so she could look through a transparent part. _Yeah, this doesn't look conspicuous at all…I hope this doesn't take long…_She looked around until she found Gippal talking to a girl. Unfortunately, her back was facing Rikku so she couldn't get a clear view of her. _Okay, so she's blonde. He must have a thing for blondes. Oooh, I like that shirt! I think I used to have one like that, but I don't know where it went. Now it makes me want to find it again. Arg, I wish I could hear their conversation! It should also be nice if she would turn around and face me so I can see what she looks like! Some people don't have any compassion for the people who are spying on them! Come on, my pretty…face me! Rikku wants to see you!_

"Ma'am, can I help you with something?" Rikku jumped as someone tapped her shoulder, resulting in her hitting her head on the molding that was above the glass. _If I didn't know any better, I would think that molding was strategically placed so people wouldn't spy on others! _She thought as she rubbed her head and looked at the waiter who was speaking to her. She couldn't help but give him a chocobo in hover headlights look as she scrambled for an excuse.

"I just, um, thought that I, uh, saw someone that I knew and I wanted to surprise him," she said as the waiter lifted an eyebrow at her.

"Well, please make your surprise session short, ma'am," he said as a warning. "I have a restaurant to run and I have to seat people."

"It'll only be a few minutes, I promise," Rikku said as the waiter nodded at her. _Whew, that was a close one…_She thought as she looked at her hand to make sure that her head wasn't bleeding from the impact that her head had with the wood. Thankfully, she was fine, but she knew she would have a hell of a bump there in a few minutes.

She bent back over to look through the glass to make sure that Gippal was still talking to the girl. She slightly panicked when they weren't standing in the same spot, but she saw that Gippal started to walk back toward the table. He only walked about two feet before the mysterious blonde girl grabbed onto his arm, letting Rikku get a good look at her face.

_Well, she's Al Bhed…not to mention pretty. Nice happy smile, bright green eyes, cute button nose…Wait a minute!!!_

Rikku couldn't help but let out a gasp when she realized that she knew who the girl was.

_The girl is me!_


	6. An Unexpected After Dinner Swim

**I giggle at the title of this chapter...I find it really entertaining. Anyway, I didn't leave you in suspence for TOO long....so here you go!**

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6. An Unexpected After Dinner Swim

_What do I do now? _Rikku asked herself as she slid off the booth and started to walk back to the table, leaving Gippal alone to talk with the girl. She couldn't stand to watch anymore of the conversation because it was terrifying her. _I can't act like everything is okay, because things aren't okay. But, how is this possible? I'm right here. _She looked at her hands to reassure herself that she was in her own body. _How could he be looking and talking to me when I'm me? Was that girl me but not me? I'm so confused… _She exhaled as she walked back to the table and sat down.

"I thought you left to get some new silverware," Yuna said as she noticed that Rikku came back empty handed.

"Oh, yeah, I must've…forgotten," she said as she attempted a smile. "I'll just ask the waiter or someone to get me a new set the next time they come by. No biggie."

"You okay, Rik?" Tidus asked as he looked at Rikku's face. It looked as if all the color was drained out of her sun-kissed tan skin. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"No, I'm…I'm okay," she said as Yuna handed her a glass of water and ordered her to drink from it. _A ghost…is that what that was? _"I think I'm just hungry. Maybe my blood sugar is running low."

"Well, we're going to order in a few minutes, so have some bread," Lulu said as she passed the breadbasket to Rikku. _Who needs a mother when I have Yuna and Lulu looking after me! _Rikku thought happily as she reached into the basket and grabbed a dinner roll.

Everyone's conversations started up again as Rikku applied butter to her roll silently. Yuna leaned over to her and whispered, "so, where did you really go?"

"I went to the bathroom," Rikku lied as she kept her eye on the roll. She knew she wouldn't have been able to lie if she looked at Yuna in the eyes. "I wanted to make sure that my hair still looked okay."

"Rikku, you went that way, and the bathroom was the complete opposite way," she said, pointing as she spoke. "Now, you can't lie to me. Did you go spy on Gippal?"

"I wouldn't call it 'spying,'" Rikku said as she gave a guilty look toward Yuna. "I just wanted to see who was here for him."

"Sweetie, that would be spying," Yuna clarified and Rikku let out a sigh. Yuna then left 'motherly' mode and went into 'gossip' mode. "So, who was it?"

"I didn't recognize her," she said, lying again. "Maybe she was from the Machine Faction or something. She didn't look dressed up or anything."

"Oh, okay," Yuna said, sounding slightly disappointed. "And here I was thinking that we would have someone to bash!"

"I wouldn't have any reason to bash Gippal's new girlfriend even if he had one," Rikku said as she took a bite of her roll. "I broke up with him, remember?"

"But you guys have been friends since you were young," Yuna said as she noticed that Gippal was walking toward them. "Okay, we'll talk about this later."

"Sure," Rikku said as Gippal sat back down next to her. _Thanks, Yunie, for getting all those pesky thoughts in my head again…_

"What'd I miss?" He asked as he cleared his throat. Rikku looked back down at her plate; she couldn't look at him without asking him a million questions. "Did we order yet?"

"No, we told the waiters to…well, wait. They should be back any minute now," Baralai said as he put his hand up to his chin. "So, Gippal, who was here for you?"

"Oh, her," he said as he waved his hand as if it were nothing. "It was Perai, she works for me. She just had some questions about how I wanted some things set up for the signing."

_No, it wasn't…_Rikku couldn't help but say to herself. _I know who Perai is. She also looks nothing like me!_

"It wasn't a big deal and I told her that it could've waited until we were done with dinner, but you know her." He said with a slight forced laugh. "Everything needs to be solved right away with her!"

"Hmm, sounds like someone else we all know," Paine said, indicating Yuna.

"Hey, I'm not as bad as I used to be," Yuna said as she placed her hands on her stomach. "Now I have an excuse to relax and let other people take care of Spira's problems."

"She hates it though," Tidus said as Yuna nodded in agreement. Before they could say another word, the waiters came back and started to take their orders.

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Rikku remained silent the rest of dinner, which was very unusual for her. Usually she was flitting around like a spastic hummingbird; unable to stay quiet and cease her giggles. She also barely touched her dinner and didn't even touch her Black Macalania Forest cake that she had for dessert, which was even more unusual because it was her favorite. She poked at the cherries with her fork, but she didn't even let the chocolatey goodness enter her mouth. Everyone else was too enthralled with their conversations that they didn't even notice her odd behavior.

"Hey, who's up for another glass of wine?" Nooj asked as everyone held up their wine glasses. Everyone, that is, except Rikku.

"Rikku," Gippal asked as he tapped her on the leg.

"Huh?" She said as she came out of a daze. She blinked several times as she focused on his face. "What?"

"Do you want more wine?" Rikku shook her head and took a sip of her water.

"Actually, I think I'm going to head back to the hotel and lie down. I'm not feeling well." She wasn't lying because seeing herself from a third person's point of view made her feel somewhat ill. _It was me, wasn't it? I know that I don't have a twin…what's going on?_

"Do you want me to go with you?" Yuna asked as Rikku shook her head.

"No, I kinda want to go sleep or something," she said as she took in a shakey breath. "You guys stay here."

"I'm going to check on you in a little bit," Yuna forewarned as she kissed Rikku on the cheek. "You're worrying me tonight."

"Don't worry about it, Yunie," Rikku said as she stood up. "Have a good night, everyone."

She waved to everyone as she walked out of the restaurant and into the cool night air. There was a slight breeze, causing the temperature to feel a few degrees cooler, but all in all, it was a beautiful night. With the city all lit up, the people roaming the streets, and the leaves on the trees being slightly blown around, Rikku found the sight to be picturesque. It was perfect contemplation scenery. _I don't really want to go back to the hotel yet…_She pondered as she started to walk along the cobblestone. She decided to go the opposite way and meander by the docks for a little bit so she could have some alone time.

As Rikku heard the waves crash against the docks, she realized how much she loved the city of Luca. As much as she loved Bikanel, it was always too dry and hot there. Too many worries about sandstorms or water shortage as well as watching your step so you don't land in a fiend's new home. Whereas in Luca, it was right on the water, so no water or sandstorm problems evolved. Not to mention that there weren't half as many fiends as there were in Bikanel. As a matter of fact, Rikku couldn't remember if she'd ever seen a fiend in Luca. She heard about the fiasco that happened with Seymour when Yuna was on her Pilgrimage, but all the times she'd been in Luca, there weren't any fiend encounters.

She stopped at one of the empty docks and rested her hands against the stone railings, as she stared out toward the sea. _Who is she? Who is this girl? _She thought to herself as she saw some dolphins leap out of the water. _How does she look so much like me? And more importantly, why is Gippal talking to her? I just don't understand what's going on…_

"I knew I'd find you here." Rikku half expected someone to follow her, so she wasn't surprised that it was Tidus.

"Yunie put you up to this, didn't she?" she asked as Tidus walked next to her.

"Gotta obey the worried pregnant wife," he said as he let out a chuckle. "But in all honestly, I'm worried about ya too. You're like a little sister to me, you know."

"I'm your cousin by marriage," Rikku said proudly as she smiled at him.

"I guess you could say that," he said as he sat down on the railing. "Wow, it's gorgeous out here tonight. No wonder you came here."

"I was thinking about going to bed, then I realized that it's only nine o'clock and I haven't had a night on the town in a very long time. However, tonight's 'night on the town' is consisting of me sitting at the docks and watching the sea." The breeze whipped Rikku's hair in her face, so she impatiently brushed it out of the way. "Heh, this is why I never wear my hair down."

"Why? Just because it gets in your face?"

"I usually only wear it down because that's the way that Gippal likes it," she said as she tried to tame down her hair. _The me that he was talking to had her hair down…Maybe that's why he likes her?_

"How are you doing with the whole situation anyway?" Tidus asked, motioning Rikku to sit down next to him. She obeyed and sighed. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I know he's kinda taking it hard."

"I love Gippal, I really do," she started as a giggle escaped. "But the man drives me crazy. He thinks he can order me around and stuff just because we grew up together. I just wanted my independence because I felt he was becoming too attached to me. Not to mention that now he's acting really weird around me. Like, mysterious girls following him around and him lying about them."

"What do you mean?" Tidus asked as he adverted his gaze onto Rikku. "Are you talking about the girl that visited him at the restaurant tonight? He said it was someone from work."

"It wasn't," she said as she started to sway her feet, half afraid that she was going to lose her balance and fall into the water.

"How do you know?" Rikku looked up at him with a guilty smile on her face. "Ah, you were spying. So tell me what you have found out, Detective Rikku."

"I just know it wasn't Perai because I actually know who she is. The girl he was with was blonde, short, and…" She trailed off and Tidus motioned her to go on. "I just know it wasn't her."

"I'm sure Gippal doesn't mean anything by it," Tidus said as he put his arm around Rikku and squeezed.

"Gippal!!!!" Tidus and Rikku both looked at each other when they heard Gippal's name shouted out.

"Did you just hear…?" Rikku asked as she and Tidus exchanged looks.

"Yeah, I did." He said as the looked to the left, taking his arm off of her so he could get a better view. "It sounded like she's in trouble or something."

"She sounded _close_," Rikku said as she felt a tap on her shoulder. _She sounded like—AHHHHHHH!_

"Excuse me, but have you seen Gippal?" When Rikku and Tidus looked at the owner of the voice, they both let out a yell in shock. Rikku's breathing started to become more rapid as the girl continued to speak. "He said he would be back by now, but I can't seem to find him anywhere."

"Ri…it's…" Tidus managed to sputter out as the girl looked at them and blinked. She had a million gil smile pasted on her face and Tidus looked at her in amazement. He turned to face Rikku again, but she wasn't there—then Tidus heard a splash. He looked down and realized that Rikku fainted and fell in the water.

"Rikku!!!" He shouted as he jumped in the water after her, without thinking twice.


	7. Rikku's Next Move

**Tonight's daily update!!!! :) I enjoy this chapter a lot and I hope you do as well!!! Oh, by the way, I started school again today (boooooooooo!) so after posting this fic, I probably won't post for a while. Well, I guess the school thing isn't the only reason...I'm going to be spending some quality bonding time with Remembering Rachel. I have a feeling that's going to be a LOOOOOONG fic...but it's okay. I love Locke, so it's all good. Okay, back onto this fic...I really like the last part...it makes me giggle. AND I WANT RIKKU'S SLIPPERS!!!!! Anyhoo...please read and review!! (thanks for all the wonderful reviews so far!) **

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7. Rikku's Next Move

Tidus walked back into the hotel with Rikku, both of them sopping wet. Rikku came back into consciousness when Tidus safely brought her out of the water, but their nice dress clothes were now dripping water everywhere. On the way to the to hotel, Rikku explained to Tidus how she saw the Rikku Clone speaking to Gippal at the restaurant, and Tidus suggested that they should go talk to him about it. The bellboys and clerks gave them suspicious looks as they trudged in, leaving a water trail behind them. Tidus and Rikku both smiled and waved, leaving the hotel staff even more bewildered.

They took the lift up to the second floor, and they were silent the entire way. Tidus didn't know what to say because he knew Rikku was deep in thought about the girl that they just saw. _Now that I've seen her up close, I know that she doesn't just look at me…she is me…_The lift stopped, and when they stepped off, they saw Yuna in the hallway.

"What…What happened?" She asked frantically as she walked over to them as fast as her body would let her.

"Got wet," Rikku said simply with a shrug.

"Um, I see that," Yuna replied as she touched Tidus' shirt. "Dare I ask how?"

"We went swimming," Tidus said as Yuna raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that wasn't very intelligent," she stated as she placed her hands on her back to support herself. "The water is probably filthy."

"Yeah, it doesn't taste all that great either," Rikku replied as she wrung out the water from her hair.

"Okay, well, why don't you guys change out of your wet clothes and then tell me what _really_ happened," Yuna said as she directed them to their rooms.

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Ten minutes later, Rikku was in Tidus and Yuna's suite, sitting on the bed with them as she and Tidus explained what happened to Yuna. Rikku was in her moogle print pajama bottoms and matching moogle slippers, her "Al Bhed Princess" shirt, and her wet hair wrapped up in a towel as she excitedly told the details.

"So here we were, having a nice bonding talk, then this girl calls out Gippal's name," Rikku started, her eyes wide. "We didn't know who it was, and then she taps us on the shoulder. We looked at her and BOOM! I felt like I was looking into a freaking mirror!"

"We were looking straight at Rikku!" Tidus said, causing Yuna to put her hands up.

"Wait a second here, I thought that Rikku was sitting next to you, Ti," she said as Rikku and Tidus both nodded.

"I _was_ sitting next to him, that's what makes this all so weird!" Rikku said as Yuna narrowed her eyes. "So then I fainted and made a nice swan dive into the water."

"I gave it about a 7.4." Tidus just had to put in his two gil statement as Yuna chuckled. "So I, of course, had to be the hero and jump in after her so she wouldn't drown."

"Well, that's very sweet of you," Yuna said as she leaned over and kissed Tidus on the cheek. "It's nice to know that I have a benevolent husband."

"So, now the real question," Rikku said as she started to play with the red pompom that grew from the head of one of her moogle slippers, growing serious. "What is it? What is this thing that has my body and face?"

"I think that's a question that you'll have to bring up to Gippal," Yuna said as she placed her hand in Tidus'. "You did say that the Rikku Clone spoke to him at the restaurant, and he wasn't too shocked by it. I think if he was surprised, he would've come back to the table and brought it to our attention."

"True. I mean, I was sitting next to him at dinner," Rikku said as she put her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in her hand. "I think he would've noticed that it wasn't me because according to him, I hadn't left the table."

"Gippal is having a meeting with Nooj and Baralai right now, so I'm not sure when they'll be back," Yuna stated as she put her hand on her stomach. "Ooh."

"What?" Tidus asked as worry washed over his face.

"It kicked." Yuna said as Tidus' expression changed to joy. Rikku squealed as she flopped on her stomach and placed her hand on Yuna's pregnant belly.

"Meeh, I don't feel anything," she whined as she moved her hand around. "Come on, my love! Auntie Rikku wants you to kick!"

"I'm sure that once Gippal gets out of the meeting, he'll want to look for the Rikku Clone so she doesn't run into anyone else," Tidus pointed out as Rikku frowned. "He'll probably want to keep a close eye on her and keep her in his hotel room."

"Man, but that could take all night." Rikku gave up with the baby and sat back up. "This is going to bother me. I don't like the feeling that something has my face out there."

"Try having an imposter give her own concert," Yuna snorted as she thought of Leblanc's debacle that she pulled off. "Hey, where's Leblanc? Maybe she got into your dresspheres. She likes to do that."

"Nah, I think I'll spare myself by having to talk to her," Rikku said as she giggled. "Besides, she was wearing normal Rikku clothes, not Rikku dressphere clothes."

"Should we tell anyone else about this?" Tidus asked, rubbing his wife's stomach. "I mean, if they run into her, they're probably just going to be as confused as Rikku and I were."

"Hold it!" Rikku exclaimed as a thought exploded in her head. "Baralai and Paine were acting as if they already saw me earlier today, when I actually didn't see them. The other me must've seen them, so they thought that I was the other me, but the other me isn't me, it's something else and—Wow, I'm giving myself a major complex here."

"What you're trying to say is that they won't know the difference between you and the Rikku that looks like you," Yuna said as Rikku nodded. Tidus looked at Yuna in amazement that she made sense out of Rikku's babbling, so Yuna simply added, "I have my degree in Rikku-Speak."

"It's a wonderful language," Rikku said proudly.

"She didn't seem dangerous, so I'm not putting her in the 'Deadly Threat to Society' column just yet," Tidus stated. "However, I don't think that we should take any chances."

"Well, I would go out looking for me, but I'm already in my fun moogle pajamas. Not to mention that my pops just bought me these slippers, and I don't think they would do too well on cobblestone." Rikku stood up and looked at her state of dress. "I guess I could change, but I don't want to faint again if I see myself."

"Maybe we should find out what she is first," Tidus said as he stood up as well. "That way we know what we're dealing with."

"Do you think maybe we're all under a spell and we fall asleep and dream of her?" Rikku questioned. She knew she was reaching, but she felt that a wacky comment was needed at the moment.

"Dreams can be real though." Yuna replied as she pointed to Tidus, who flashed her a smile.

"Very cute, Yunie." Rikku couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile. "I know that Gippal is behind this, so I guess I need to wait and speak to him. However, I'm as curious as a squatter monkey around tourists right now, so I'm going to go look for her."

"If you want to go find out who this thing is, I'll go with you," Tidus said as Rikku shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I need to go battle myself by myself. Hey, it's kinda like an internal conflict gone external! Anyway, I'll let you stay with Yunie," Rikku said as she took off the towel that was on her hair. "I'm gonna go throw on my street clothes, grab a few dresspheres, and go find myself. I think I would feel more commander-y if I didn't have my feet in the tummies of two moogles."

"Good luck," Yuna said as Rikku left their room and walked to her own.

Rikku quickly ran to her suitcases and dug through one until she found a box on the bottom of one. She lifted it out and took off the lid. An excited giggle escaped her lips as she looked at the multishaped garment grids and the orange colored dresspheres. When Shinra came up with the dressphere concept, he color coded them so Yuna, Rikku, and Paine could keep track of their own and not get them mixed up because they wore different sizes. Yuna's were pink, Rikku's were orange, and Paine's were purple. She clicked her Highroad Winds garment grid onto her moogle pants and clicked her Thief Dressphere into one of the spots. She felt herself being lifted up and surrounded in a mystical light, changing her into her yellow bikini and short greenish brown skirt. Her thief daggers were placed in her hands and she looked at them.

"Hello, my sharp pointy friends! How I've missed you!" She greeted them giddily as she placed them back in the holsters. She couldn't help but strike a pose in front of the mirror as she looked at herself. Knowing she hadn't touched her garment grids or dresspheres since the whole Shuyin thing, it felt pretty damn good to be a thief again. Although she carried a few garment grids and a few of her fully mastered dresspheres with her at all times in case of an emergency, she never got the opportunity to use them. _Until now! _She thought as she continued to look at her reflection. "Whoo! I feel like a Gullwing again! If I had my own theme song, it would be playing right about now!"

She hopped out of her room and locked her door behind her as she hummed her own theme music. She turned around and almost smacked into Paine, who was closely watching the young blonde girl.

"Hey, Paine!" She said as Paine eyed her suspiciously. "What?"

"Why are you in such a hurry?" She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes lingered at the garment grid that was attached to Rikku's hip and she pointed it. "Haven't seen those in a while. What's the occasion?"

"I'm going to look for a little bit of trouble," Rikku said as she curtsied. "Wanna come with?"

"What kind of trouble?" Paine asked, tilting her head up a little bit; proving to Rikku that she was clearly interested.

"To make a long story semi short," Rikku said as Paine nodded. "There's another me out there. I don't know what it is, I don't know how it got here, but I'm looking to find out."

"Hmm, two yous?" Paine said dryly. "I do believe that is the most frightening thought I could ever have."

"You in or not?" Rikku asked, trying to rush Paine's decision because she was ready to get out in the action again.

"In," Paine said as she led Rikku into her and Baralai's suite. She opened a suitcase and looked at her display of garment grids and purple colored dresspheres. "And here I thought I was the only one who carried around these."

"I'm pretty sure that Yunie carries hers around as well, although I don't think she would be able to use them while she's pregnant," Rikku stated as Paine clicked on her Flash of Steel garment grid and placed her Warrior Dressphere into one of the holes. Rikku watched in glee as the same mystical light that lifted up Rikku now lifted up Paine and brought her down in the leather belts and high heels that Rikku was so used to seeing her in. As a matter of fact, Rikku still found it odd to see Paine in anything else. "How do you feel?"

"Home," Paine said honestly as she inspected her sword. "Still sharp, that's a comfort."

"Ready?" Rikku asked as Paine nodded.

Then in unison, they shouted, "Let's do it!"

They looked at each other and pondered for a second.

"That's…not the same without Yunie, is it?" Rikku asked as Paine shook her head. "Oh well, come on."


	8. YRP…Without The Y?

**Welcome to my favorite chapter!!! I love this chapter...it's one of the ones I worked the hardest on (well...okay, I worked the hardest on this one and the next three) and it's probably the one I'm most satisfied with. (Not to mention I love the title...giggle) It's a rather lengthy chapter...but it goes by rather quickly. ) Oh yeah, by the way the Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time OST is absolutely amazing. (I'm playing the game as well...but I got the soundtrack today!) Also, thank you for all the wonderful reviews so far!**

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8. Y.R.P…Without The Y?

"So, where do we start looking?" Paine asked when they arrived on Luca's streets. Rikku was about to complain that they would've been down here three minutes earlier if Paine hadn't been so adamant to go back into Rikku's room for something, but she decided three minutes wouldn't kill her. "Us carrying around swords does not make us stick out at all."

"I guess it does," Rikku shrugged as she eyed the parameter of the town, looking for a clue to her other self. "But the way I look at it, the people who knew us a year ago never thought twice about it, so what makes things different now?"

"Wow, Rikku, for once in your life, you have a decent point." Rikku ignored Paine's sarcasm and smiled at her. "Okay, so where did you see yourself last?"

"Me me or the other me me?" Rikku asked as Paine rolled her eyes. "Oh, the other me me. Well, Tidus and I were at the docks, but that was probably about a half hour ago. She could be anywhere. If we find Gippal first, that might be nice."

"How come every time I talk to you, you have to find Gippal?" Paine asked as Rikku looked at her in confusion.

"That's not true," Rikku said as they started to walk to the center of town.

"This morning when I first saw you, you said that you had to find Gippal."

"Nuh uh!" Rikku said as Paine groaned.

"Yes."

"Nuh uh!"

"Yes!"

"Nuh—"

"Finish that and I'll hurt you," Paine said as Rikku shut her mouth. "Thank you."

"You're no fun," Rikku protested.

"Wait, I understand what's going on now," Paine said as crossed her arms. "Once again I think you were right. So it really _wasn't_ you who greeted Baralai and I at the docks, it was the other Rikku. Listen to me; 'other Rikku.' Sorry Rikku, but I shudder at the thought of there being two of you."

"It scares me more," Rikku replied as Paine shook her head.

"I highly doubt that. Trust me." Paine followed Rikku as she looked around in an alleyway. "Anyway, why _do_ you want to find Gippal? I thought you broke up with him."

"I did break up with him, but let's not talk about that," she stated as they hit a dead end. "Aw nuts. Dead end. I want to find Gippal because I think he's behind all of this."

"What do you mean by that?" They turned around and walked out of the alleyway and onto the main streets again.

"I saw him talking to the me clone earlier today," she replied.

"And questioning him about it didn't come into your mind at the time?" Paine smacked her hand against her forehead as she shuddered. "Yep, more scary thoughts of there being more than one of you."

"Well, I was spying on him so I didn't want him to know that I knew about the two mes, ya know?" Rikku scratched her shoulder as she saw something move up ahead. "Oooh, jackpot!"

"Let's go!" Paine drew out her sword and Rikku grabbed her two daggers as they moved toward the shadowed figure that was behind the café. When they saw the shadowed figure move behind some boxes that were left behind by a careless bartender, Rikku jumped on top of one, Paine not far behind.

"Leave it to me!" Rikku called out as her battle cry.

"It's all yours, Rikku." Rikku heard Paine scoff and hop down the box that she was standing on.

"What?" She looked down at what the shadowed figure was—a poor defenseless kitten. Rikku squealed at the sight of it and lowered her daggers. "Aww, kitty!"

"Guess our techniques getting a bit rusty," Paine announced with a huff. "Has it really been that long?"

"I'm starting to believe so," Rikku said as she put her daggers back in their holsters. "Now I'm kind of afraid of what's going to happen if we really _are_ going to have to fight."

"With any luck, our enemy might laugh in our faces and that'll lower its defenses," Paine suggested as Rikku giggled. "The sad part is that this is what I do, ya know? I teach younger boys at the Bevelle Temple how to defend themselves and become better swordsmen."

"But you haven't had any _real_ competition since Shuyin," Rikku couldn't help but giggle because she knew she had a point.

"Hey, today might be my lucky day. I can stab _two_ Rikkus tonight if all goes according to plan!" Paine drawled as she continued to walk past the buildings, leaving Rikku dumbfounded.

"You're kidding, right?" She asked.

"Am I?" Paine replied without breaking her stride.

"That's not very funny, you know!" Rikku retorted as she caught up with Paine.

"Hey, I haven't picked on you in quite some time. I gotta admit, I miss it." She turned to Rikku and gave her a half smile.

"Just think! Now that there's two of me, you can make fun of us both!" Paine shuddered and Rikku burst out into a giggle fit.

"Yeah, then there will be two Rikkus to annoy me and make me want to kill myself," she replied, only causing Rikku to laugh harder. "I couldn't imagine if I had to deal with two of you instead of just you and Yuna when we were all in the Gullwings. Or—" another shudder, "—two of you _and_ Yuna. Sweet Yunalesca."

"Oh, you love us, don't deny it!" Rikku said as she patted Paine on the back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she admitted as they continued to search through Luca.

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"Do you think that'll work then?" Nooj asked as he, Baralai, and Gippal went over their speech. "I mean, I guess it sounds okay."

"It could use some major tweaking though," Baralai sighed as he looked at the pile of note cards in his hand. "The three of us know that we've formed an allegiance already, but we're supposed to be announcing it to all of Spira. We don't want to make fools out of ourselves."

"I hear it'll be on the sphere screen and everything." Nooj said as he fixed his glasses.

"Yeah, therefore we want it to be perfect." Baralai and Nooj both flipped through their note cards to see if anything needed to be changed. Baralai stopped frantically reading to look over at Gippal; who was starring into space and holding his note cards in one hand and a pen in the other. "Gippal?"

"Gippal?" Nooj echoed when he realized that Gippal still wasn't paying any attention. Baralai gestured toward Nooj to tap Gippal, and Nooj followed through. Gippal leaped about a foot into the air, throwing his note cards in every direction.

"Oh vilg!" Gippal cursed as he started to pick up the cards. "I didn't even have these numbered yet!"

"What were you thinking about, dreamer boy?" Baralai asked as he bent over to help pick up the pieces of paper.

"Are we almost done here?" Gippal asked impatiently as he stood up. "I really think I need to get some sleep. I mean, the signing isn't until 8 tomorrow night. We can do the finishing touches in the morning or afternoon, whichever is better for you guys."

"If you're in that much of a hurry to get out of here, Gippal, you could've just told us an hour ago that you were tired," Nooj said as Gippal scratched the back of his head. "Like you said, we can work on it tomorrow. It's not that big of a deal that we delay this for 12 hours."

"Yeah, I know. I just thought that if we got this done in one night, it would've been less of a hassle." He let out a sigh as he looked at the disheveled papers in his hand. _It's going to take me an hour to get these all back in order…_He thought to himself. "Okay, I'm off."

"I'm gonna stay here a little bit longer," Baralai said as he looked back at his cards. "I know that I won't get any work done if I go back to the hotel room."

"Why? You would be too busy using your navigational skills on our pilot?" Gippal teased as Baralai blushed.

"Yes, if you must say it like that." Gippal loved joking around with Baralai. His fawn colored skin always turned pick around the cheeks and he would nervously smile. Ever since the Crimson Squad days, Gippal had always been the carefree one, Baralai was the prim and proper one, Nooj was the older and strict one, and Paine was the quiet one who mostly kept to herself. _Ah, the good old days…_Gippal thought with a smile.

"Good night, Gippal," Nooj said, obviously meaning, 'that's enough, Gippal.' That was another characteristic of Nooj; he was always the father figure for the three of them; so Gippal always obeyed. Usually he gave Nooj a hard time before giving in, but tonight he wasn't in the mood or the state of mind for games. He had to find his experiment.

"Night, guys," Gippal replied as he left the café where they were having their meeting. He quickly looked at his note cards, then just shoved them in his pocket. _I'll deal with them later…_ He figured as he started to walk in the opposite direction of the hotel. _I'll start this way, then make my way toward the hotel so I won't miss her…_

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"Where do you think this skank is?" Paine asked as Rikku huffed.

"Hey! That is _me_ you're talking about!"

"Sorry, let me rephrase; where do you think this skank is?" Paine smiled and lifted her eyebrows at Rikku, who was trying her hardest to give Paine a death glare. Unfortunately, Rikku was trying not to laugh at the same time, so her death glare wasn't so harsh.

"Anyway, I don't know where I am, I seem to be hiding. I'm a good hider, too," Rikku said as she thought about it. "I just figured out who I would never want to play hide and seek with."

"Ooh, an idea just hit me," Paine said as Rikku looked at her. "I forgot temporarily that we're looking for you. Hide and seek. Okay, Rikku, where would you be hiding right now?"

"Too bad it's late or else I would be in the store with the cute red dress. It was so cute." Rikku sighed at how Gippal pulled her away from her window shopping earlier in the day. _I'll just have to buy it tomorrow…_ "Wait! I went to the docks earlier. That's where I found my sanctuary thinking place, if that's what you want to call it."

"Now that I think about it, it would make sense because that's where Baralai and I saw your clone earlier."

"And that's where Tidus and I saw me earlier as well!" Rikku started to sprint to the other side of town where the docks where. "I should've looked into the inner me to find out where I would be hiding!"

"Whatever works," Paine muttered as she ran to keep up with Rikku.

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_Now, where is she going to be? _Gippal sighed as he looked around him. Luckily, since it was late, not many people were out. Just the few occasional couples taking a nice night walk and the occasional drunk sleeping on a bench. _All the stores in town are closed or else she would be shopping…why can't I remember what her programs are? Think, Gippal, think! What did I make her like? Me, chocolate, me, clothes, me some more, shopping, Yuna, Tidus, Paine, me, yadda yadda yadda…Oh! The docks!_

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"Now, which dock would you be hiding at, Rikku?" Paine asked as Rikku shrugged.

"I have no idea, I would just be here admiring the scenery," she said as a loud whisper. "Like that person over there!"

"Is that you?" The figure was leaning against the railing with their chin placed in the palms of their hands.

"Yeah, I think so. How are we going to sneak up on her?" Rikku asked as they quietly walked over to the deck next to it. "It's not like we have anything to tie her up in, and I think she'll go all spazzy if she sees me because she's me, I'm me, and I'm her."

"I had a feeling it was going to come down to this," Paine said as she pulled out something from her garment grid, and held it up between her thumb and forefinger so Rikku could see it. Rikku noticed that it was orange and she cringed. "It's yours."

"What's that?"

"Don't act like you've never seen a dressphere before, Rikku," she said as she held out Rikku's hand and placed it in her palm.

"I know it's a dressphere, but which one is it?" She inspected it closely and slightly growled when she realized which one it was. "My Mascot Dressphere? You've gotta be kidding me!"

"I figured it was going to come in handy," Paine confessed as she tapped Rikku on the head. "Why else would I go into your room?"

"First of all, I'm hostile that it's not a cactuar, and secondly, a big walking Cat Sith won't look suspicious?" Rikku's whisper turned into a quiet shrieking sound, letting Paine get more enjoyment out of this.

"Stop being such a baby," she said as Rikku continued to glare. "Put it on."

"Arg! Fine! Yunie is going to be upset when she finds out that she had to miss this." Rikku was just about ready to put it in an empty slot in her garment grid, but stopped. "So what, are we both going to walk her back, or am I going to like follow you?"

"I'm going to walk up to her, tell her that Gippal is waiting for her at the hotel, then we're going to drag her into an alley and tie her up."

"Tie her up with what? I don't have any rope on me!" Rikku said as she pointed out that she was wearing minimal clothing.

"Hopefully we find something," Paine replied as she pushed Rikku behind the wall of the dock.

"That's your brilliant plan?" Rikku asked as Paine nodded.

"I don't see you coming up with any of your own ideas," Paine retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "For that reason, we're going to do my plan."

"I'll never fall for it," she said as she threw her hands in the air.

"Believe me, you will," Paine said as she ripped the dressphere out of Rikku's hand and put it into her garment grid. Unfortunately, the magic that surrounded Rikku as she changed caused quite a bright light, distracting the Rikku clone to look over in the direction of Rikku and Paine.

"I hate you right now," Rikku said when she was placed back on the ground, now in her Mascot Dressphere.

"Who's there?" The Rikku Clone asked, her voice wavering in fright.

"No, you don't, don't lie," Paine said to the Cat Sith clad real Rikku as she tried to suppress her laughter. Rikku did look fairly ridiculous. "Now, you be a good kitty and let Paine do her work."

"Please stop," Rikku pleaded. "This is more embarrassing than it looks."

"Don't speak, only follow." She said with a short laugh. "Hey, Rikku!" The real Rikku whipped her head toward Paine, only to forget that Paine was talking to the Rikku Clone and not her. _Good going, Rikku! _She said to herself as she shook her head in the huge costume.

When the Rikku Clone saw Paine, she instantly forgot all sense of fright and her sphere star smile appeared on her face again. "Hi…" she stopped and looked like she was thinking really hard for a second before she added, "Paine."

_She's like the real Rikku, only more so…_Paine thought as she half smiled at the Rikku Clone. "Hey, I was just with Gippal and he sent me out to find you."

"Gippal?!" She exclaimed as she looked around. "Where is he?"

"He's waiting for you at the hotel." Rikku Clone started to bounce on her toes, making Paine cringe. _Why did I get myself involved in this?_ She asked as she started to lead the Rikku Clone toward the hotel.

"Yay! I miss Gippal," she said as Paine nodded in annoyance. She looked back over her shoulder to where the real Rikku was and motioned her to follow them. Unfortunately, the tiny holes in the dressphere prevented Rikku from seeing Paine's wave. "Gippal means the world to me. Gippal's perfect."

"I'm sure he is in your eyes, Rikku," Paine said as she tried not to laugh. _What the hell did Gippal get himself into?_

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Gippal made his way through the docks when he saw a bright flash of light about a hundred yards away. _What the…_He asked himself as he picked up his pace to a jog. _What is going on? _He saw two shadowed figures against the walls of one of the docks; one was tall and skinny, and one was tall and…_lumpy? _That was the only word Gippal could use to describe it. However, the situation looked highly suspicious.

When one of the figures walked away, he figured this was his chance to attack the lumpy shaped one. _Uh, it looks slightly bigger than me…so I should probably be careful…_He cautiously walked closer and when he realized that the lumpy shaped one was watching the skinnier one, he figured this was his best chance to make his move.

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_Wow, she was right…I did fall for the bait…_Rikku thought to herself as she watched what was going on through two tiny peep holes that were in the head of the dressphere. _You would've thought that Shinra would have made this costume more fight friendly…_She shuffled her feet and tried to make herself more comfortable, but it was no use. The dressphere was large, oddly shaped, and, not to mention, hot. _I'm going to sweat to death in this thing!_

She felt a slight twinge in the back of her head, so she went to scratch it. However, knowing that she had the huge Cat Sith head on, she knew it was quite impossible to have her real hand touch her real head. _Wait, that's not an itch, that's my Gullwing sense tingling! _She whipped around just in time to see a fist that was aimed right for her head.


	9. What Is It?

**(This is the edited version of this chapter! Curse of a perfectionist, I'm telling you!)**

**FINALLY this site is up and running again...it's about damn time. I was getting quite impatient....and it interrupted my 'new chapter every day so my fic could be up completely in 11 days'flow that I had goin!!! Anyway, in this chapter, most of your questions will be solved...only most of them though. (This is my second favorite chapter in the fic by the way) Tee hee....I can't believe that there are only two more chapters in this fic...sniff sniff....okay, anyway....I hope you're enjoying this so far, and i hope you enjoy this chapter! (I think i say that with every single chapter that I update, but oh well) It's another rather long chapter, but oh well. I hope it keeps you entertained....**

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9. "What Is It?"

Rikku's keen instinct gave her the ability to grab the attacker's arm in midair so it wouldn't strike her. It took her a second to have a good view through the tiny peep holes of the dressphere to look into the attacker's eyes. _Or, shall I say, eye!? _

"Gippal?" Rikku squeaked out when she realized that it was him. "Is that you?"

"Who the hell are you?" He demanded as the big cat figure let out a giggle and dropped his hand. Gippal slightly flinched as the cat reached up and took off its head, revealing a blob of blonde hair. "Rikku?"

"Hiya!" She exclaimed as she brushed her hair out of her face. "Hold on a sec!"

"Uh, okay," he said, realizing that he didn't have a choice, as he watched her fiddle around with something that was attached to her hip. She was then engulfed by a bright light and lifted a few inches off the ground, causing Gippal to take a few steps backward in surprise. After a couple seconds, she was gently placed on the ground again, in the hot bikini outfit that she used to wear. "It is you!"

"Of course it is!" She said cheerfully as pointed to her garment grid. "This lets me change outfits and stuff. I've told you about my garment grids and dresspheres before, I know I have."

"Yeah, you have, but I've never actually seen how they work." He bent over and checked it out, looking at the mechanics of it. "Huh, that's pretty cool."

"It's fun to play with again, that's for sure," she said as she patted it. The awkward silence between them caused Rikku to start shuffling her feet. "So uh, what are you doing out at this time at night?"

"Me? Oh, I was uh, just out for walk under the stars. We don't have nights like this in Bikanel, that's for sure." He shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to act nonchalant about the situation. "What about you?"

"Oh, Paine and I were just out and about trying to capture myself," she replied in the same nonchalant tone, only she told the truth. "Which reminds me, we have to follow Paine back to the hotel because that's where she's leading me."

"Where she's leading you? I don't understand," he said as she shushed him by placing a finger over his lips.

"Shh! We don't get to speak, we only follow." Gippal squinted at her as she flashed him a playful smile. "Paine's orders."

Gippal let out a chuckle as he followed Rikku into an alleyway. Paine nodded at the real Rikku, and she turned to Gippal and started to quickly search him.

"Uh, Rikku," he warned as she started to feel up his legs. "This is verging on naughty touching here, you know. If you really wanted to feel me up, you didn't have to drag me into a—hello!" Rikku started to unbuckle his belt, causing Gippal to fidget nervously. "What are you doing!?"

"I need something to tie her up with," Rikku replied innocently, enjoying the look of surprise on his face. "Oh come on, it's for the girl who has my face."

"It's just a little out of the ordinary right now," he started. "I mean, you and me in a dark alleyway and you taking off my belt? Sounds like something you would've been up for about a month ago."

"Hmm, I'm surprised I've never had that thought before. However, I do like to watch you squirm," she giggled as she walked over to where Paine was holding down the Rikku Clone. "Here Paine, this should work."

"Why, hi, Gippal," Paine said calmly as she tied the Rikku Clone's hands behind her back.

"H..Hi, Paine," Gippal stuttered as he watched Paine and the real Rikku lift the Rikku Clone to her feet. _Oh no…they found out about her…_He thought as he swallowed hard and looked at his masterpiece. Although she had her hands tied behind her back, she wasn't aware of what was going on. She still had the bright smile on her face and the cheery persona.

"Is that my Gippal's voice?" Rikku Clone cooed as she frantically looked around. She squealed and became so excited that she started to bounce on her toes. "Is that my Gippaly-Wippaly's sexy voice?"

"Well, would you look at that, Rikku," Paine said to the real Rikku. "It looks like Leblanc taught your clone something!"

"A-ha…a-ha…" Gippal replied sarcastically as he walked up to the Rikku Clone. _The switch on the back of her head should—_Before he was able to reach her, the real Rikku stepped in front of him.

"Okay, Gippal," she said as she put her hands on her hips. "I think you need to explain some things to me."

"Looks like." He inhaled as he looked down at his feet. "Let's get back to the hotel first and then I'll explain everything. I swear."

"I suppose I can give you that much time to muster up the entire story," she said as she pinched his cheek and started to lead the way back to the hotel.

The walk back was silent, but Rikku didn't expect Gippal to talkative, and she never expected Paine to talk much as it was. She would look back over her shoulder every once and a while to see him look down at the ground; it was evident that he was embarrassed that Rikku found out what he did.

_I didn't think she was going to find out…_He thought to himself as he kicked a stray stone as he walked. _It was just a stupid experiment…A very good replica though if my version of Rikku could fool her closest friends…_ He wasn't sure how he would explain what she was to Rikku. _I'm the leader of the Machine Faction…I'm sure that's the only explanation that she's going to need…I hope…Maybe? _

When they arrived at the hotel, Rikku stopped in her tracks upon reaching the doors. "Uh oh," she said when a predicament popped into her head. Before she could continue, Gippal ran straight into her, banging heads with her. "Hey!"

"Oof! Warn me when you stop next time, Rik," Gippal complained as he rubbed his head. "It's hard to pay attention to what you're doing when I'm looking down."

"That'll teach ya to look up while you're walking, you big oaf!" She threw back as she walked over to her clone. "Okay, here's the problem. I think the hotel staff will get into a tizzy if we walk in with someone tied up."

"Gee, I can't imagine why," Paine stated as she looked at the Rikku Clone, who gave her a beaming smile. "She's really starting to bother me; she's way too happy."

"Am I always that happy?" Rikku investigated at the Rikku Clone carefully as she cocked her head one way then the other. "Yeeesh, I hope not."

"Why don't you distract the hotel staff, Rikku?" Gippal said as Rikku looked at her clone then back at Gippal. "No, not the clone you, the you you."

"Now I know why you guys dated," Paine mumbled as she listened to their dialogue.

"How?" Rikku asked as she threw her hands up in the air. "I'm not usually distract-o girl, I'm usually break and enter girl."

"You're wearing an extremely skimpy outfit, Rikku." Rikku looked down at her outfit as Paine pointed it out.

"What's wrong with my outfit?" She questioned. She couldn't help but sound slightly defensive for she liked her thief dressphere a lot.

"Nothing from where I'm standing," Gippal muttered quietly as he let his eye trail up and down her body. "But she's right. It's very distracting to a staff of mostly men. Have your top 'accidentally' untie or something."

"No! A Spira of no!" She exclaimed, completely appalled as she wrapped her arms around her chest as if she were already exposed. "I at least have some of my morals."

"Then ask them a question, drop something, and then seductively bend over." Paine suggested as she shook her head. "Whatever, you think of something."

"O…kay…" Rikku said nervously as she smoothed her skirt and her hair. "I guess I'll try out my theatrical skills."

"Don't break anything like you did in the production of An Al Bhed Carol, Miss Graceful," Gippal teased, laughing at the memory.

"I did not do that on purpose!" She vehemently replied as she remembered the catastrophe. On opening night of the show, Rikku entered the stage too quickly, ran into one of the tables, and knocked over a few knickknacks, causing them to topple over and break. "You just had to make the situation a million times worse by starting to laugh on stage. _Then_ you proceeded to point and say, 'good going, Rikku!' I was humiliated."

"We were, what, 6 years old at the time?" He asked as she slightly pouted.

"I was five. You're older than me, remember?" She playfully stuck her tongue out at him and she stormed into the hotel lobby.

"Hmm, and how old is she now? Five and a half?"

"Wow, Paine," Gippal said in response of Paine's comment. "You're on a roll with the smartass remarks today."

"Well, I haven't been able to pick on her blondeness, perkiness, immaturity, or her personality in general since Yuna and Tidus' wedding," she blatantly stated. "I have to catch up somehow. Besides, she knows it's all in fun."

"It's what proves that you love her," Gippal said as Paine rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess." She started to look in the window to see the reaction from the staff of the hotel. "How's our seductress doing?"

"I think she's doing pretty well, not like I would expect anything less from Rikku when it comes to the seduction department," he admitted as Paine groaned in revulsion. "What?"

"Never…ever tell me what happens between you and Rikku behind closed doors," she replied. "Anyway, are we clear to go through?"

"I still think we should walk behind her so they can't see that her hands are bound," he shrugged as he looked at his adoring version of Rikku. "I don't know why you insisted on tying her up anyway. She found me and she'll listen to my orders."

"Orders? What did you have her created for?" Paine asked as a flood of images suddenly washed through her mind. "Gippal, no! Oh, Yevon! Please forward your monthly checks to Baralai because he's going to need them to pay my therapy bills!"

"Don't even think like that, that's just wrong!" He said when he realized what she was thinking. "It was nothing like that. Seriously! I just…wanted Rikku to adore me."

"I do adore you," the Rikku Clone stated in a perky tone. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"The real Rikku adores you too, Gippal." Gippal scoffed, untied Rikku Clone's bonds, and put his belt back on as Paine spoke. "You don't have to listen to me, but you know that—"

"Let's just go," he interrupted as he gave the Rikku Clone a slight push toward the door. When they walked inside, they saw Rikku literally lying on the counter flirting with all the guys on the staff. Gippal glared at one of the men who were standing at her feet, looking up her short skirt. Rikku didn't seem to notice it and Gippal didn't want to make a scene, so he gritted his teeth and continued to walk toward the lift.

"Oh, isn't that interesting?" She spoke in a low seductive tone of voice as she added in a hair flip and a giggle. "Well, what does _this_ button do?" _How much longer to I have to put up with this?_ She thought to herself as she forced another giggle. She heard the lift start to move, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Well boys, I guess I should be going. My—tee hee—boyfriend is upstairs waiting for me."

"B-Boyfriend?" One of the bellboys cried as Rikku hopped off the counter.

"Yep, sorry," she innocently raised her shoulders as she smiled at all of them. _What they don't know won't hurt them…_She thought as she blew them all kisses as she hopped on the lift.

She hopped off the lift and ran toward Gippal's room, feeling rather violated. _Guys are so needy! I mean, is that all they care about? Girls in scantily clad outfits with their cleavage falling out all the time? _She crossed her arms and rubbed her hands up and down as she heard a voice call out as she was by Tidus and Yuna's room.

"Rikku, we're in here," she heard Paine say. _Hmm…Yuna and Tidus must've stopped them because they want the juicy gossip too! _

She walked into the living room to see Yuna and Tidus bending over the clone, about an inch and a half away from its face. The clone just looked at them with the same smile on her face and blinked every so often.

"Astonishing," Yuna muttered as she examined it.

"I prefer to use the word 'horrifying,' but whatever you say," Paine said as she sat down on the couch.

"It's like looking at Rikku, but something inside tells me it's not," Yuna continued as she stood up straight.

"Maybe the fact that you know it's not me, Yunie," Rikku said as she walked over to them. She gave her cousin a hug and continued to look at the mirror image of herself. "So now, the big question, Gippal. What is it?"

"Basically, she's a Rikku looking machina," he explained as he rapped on her chest. It made a hollow steel sound, proving his point.

"Huh, my very own Rikkubot." Rikku was clearly amused as she tapped the Rikkubot's face, releasing a confused look on its face. "Weird."

"Her skin felt so real," Paine said as she looked down at her own fingers. "How did you manage that one?"

"Nehl helped me out. He had this theory that eventually Bevelle would make an entire army out of machina and he tried to get a step ahead of them. Well, since we are the Machine Faction, we're capable of making the people because we have enough spare parts and everything, but that's about it. So Nehl decided to challenge himself by inventing the formula for skin and hair." He shook his head in embarrassment and sat down. "He…He wanted to try to make a person to see if the skin truly felt real in mass quantities and not just a small sample. Just as an experiment, nothing more than that. He brought this idea up to me several weeks ago, but the night that Rikku broke up with me, I felt that I should…make…her."

"Why me?" She asked as she narrowed her eyes. "I mean, it's flattering and all, but the creepiness factor shoots every cute thought out of the water."

"I wanted to, I guess you could say, program her to love me to replace you," he said quietly as he looked at the real Rikku.

"Gippal," Rikku exhaled and walked over to where he was sitting. "You knew that I loved you."

"I know, but you weren't mine anymore, and I wanted you to still be with me."

"Hey, guys…" Yuna said quietly as she sat down and clutched her stomach. Rikku and Gippal were too busy discussing their past relationship and Tidus and Paine were looking at the Rikkubot, so no one heard her.

"I wanted my independence," Rikku proceeded in saying as Gippal stood up.

"Why didn't you just tell me that you needed some space? I would've backed away," he replied as he brushed her cheek with his fingers.

"Don't," she said as she moved out of his reach. "If you would've backed away, I would've thought that you wanted to break up with me."

"But you wanted to break up with me, so why would it have mattered?" Gippal was truly confused and Rikku couldn't comprehend why they saw things on a different wavelength.

"You just don't understand me, I guess."

"Like you actually understand me?" He threw back, causing her to narrow her eyes at him. His voice rose as his emotions erupted. "Rikku, you broke up with me the day that I was going to _propose_ to you!"

"Pr…Propose?" She said in such a small voice that it was barely audible. The look on her face softened as she looked down at her feet. _Oh no…_She thought as she absorbed what he said. The world was spinning around her, but she was standing in one spot, unsure of which way to turn.

"Tidus…" Yuna whispered as she clenched her teeth.

"I know, it's amazing, Yuna," Tidus murmured as he looked at Rikkubot's hand, inspecting the perfectly manicured fingernails.

"Why else do you think I was so upset?" Gippal asked Rikku as she choked back a sob. "Yeah, I still would've been hurt, but I wanted to _marry_ you. Does that not mean anything to you? Anything at all?"

"M…Marry me?" She said as a tear cascaded down her cheek. Her legs felt like mush under her, so she backed and sat on the couch as he continued to speak to her; each word like a dagger through her heart.

"Usually that's what follows the proposal," he snapped as she brought her hand up to her necklace and started to play with it. She didn't know what else to say, her world was crumbling in front of her.

"I think it's time…" Yuna gasped as a sharp pain ripped through her.

"To leave the room and let Rikku and Gippal talk? Yeah, I agree." Tidus gently put the Rikkubot's hand on her lap, then turned to face Yuna. He gasped when he saw her doubled over in pain and ran to her side. "Yuna!"

"I think the baby is coming," she said as her breathing became more labored. "Now."

"But, it's early!" Tidus said as he held onto Yuna's hand. Gippal and Rikku stopped talking and turned toward Yuna, to see her on the brink of having the baby in that very room. Rikku wiped her tears away as she, Gippal, and Paine rushed over to Yuna's side. "The baby isn't due for another three weeks!"

"I don't think it'll listen to you if you tell it to stay there," Yuna exclaimed as another sharp pain swept through her.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Tidus cried as he felt his hand being crushed from Yuna's grip. "Gippal, you get the others and tell them that we're going to leave now. Rikku, there's a small suitcase packed for Yuna that I want you to grab. Paine, go downstairs and get us a cab. Yuna's right, this baby isn't going to stop."

"Gippal, where are you going?" Rikkubot asked as Gippal started to leave the room. Gippal rolled his eyes as he ran back into the room, moved Rikkubot's hair, and pulled something.

"I'll deal with you later." She instantly went limp and the Paine looked in wonder.

"Wait, that's all you had to do to get her to shut up?" She groaned in disappointment. "Why didn't I figure that out? Hey, does that work for the real Rikku too? Rikku, come here!"

"Paine!" Rikku whined as Gippal and Paine started to laugh.

"Guys! Now would be nice!" Tidus said as he tried to help Yuna stand up. "And Gippal, get the Rikku Clone outta here because it's going to give me nightmares."

"Hey!" The real Rikku protested when she heard Tidus' comment. "That's not a nice thing to say."

"You know what I meant, Rikku! Now let's get a move on!" The three of them nodded and dispersed to do their required duties.

There was absolute chaos in the second floor of the Luca Suites over the next ten minutes. Rikku wasn't sure which suitcase it was, so she had to keep asking Tidus if it was the correct one. She was right on her third try. Gippal first put the Rikkubot into his room to keep it out of everyone's sight. Then he had to run into everyone's rooms and let them know that Yuna was in labor, and everyone instantly went into panic zone. No one knew what to do first, but eventually Gippal just got them all downstairs. Paine called only one cab, not remembering that there were nine of them and they wouldn't all fit in one cab. Tidus and Yuna hopped in the first cab and the others decided that they would wait for others. Lulu had to laugh at the whole ordeal as she watched everyone panic.

"What's so funny?" Rikku asked, slightly panting from the insane amount of running around that she did in a short period of time.

"No, it's just that I wonder if this is how everyone else looked when I was in labor," Lulu said as she looked down at Vidina, who was sound asleep in her arms. "When you're the one actually in labor, you don't realize what everyone else is doing. It's a rather entertaining spectacle now that I'm looking at it from the panicking point of view, actually."

"Oh, the other cabs are here!" Baralai announced and they all hopped into a cab and headed for the hospital.


	10. Tidus and Yuna’s New Bundle Of Joy

**Okay, this chapter doesn't really have a very big point in the story, but I like it. It's cute...:)It actually was very difficult to write...but I think it turned out okay. Only one more chapter to go and this story will be all posted. :) I hope you're enjoying it! (P.S. If you read Zanarkand A-East, you will notice a small connection. Very minor, but it's there!!!) **

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10. Tidus and Yuna's New Bundle Of Joy

"Wow, how long does this usually take?" Rikku asked impatiently. She was rather chilly due to the fact that she was still in her thief dressphere and the hospital seemed to have cold air sweeping through it. She would've changed, but she was wearing her moogle pajamas before she morphed into her Thief Dressphere and she didn't want to walk around in her moogle slippers. Therefore, she was stuck in the bikini top and short skirt as she paced back and forth in the waiting room. Although she tried to pretend that the baby was the only thing on her mind, the statement that Gippal said to her a few hours ago rang clear in her head. _He was going to ask me to marry him…I'm 18 years old, I'm not ready to be married yet…_ She looked up at the clock and groaned. "We've been waiting for almost three hours now and we haven't heard anything!"

"It takes a long time, Rikku," Wakka said as he pointed to Lulu. "It took a while for Lu too, you know."

"Sometimes it takes women up to 24 hours in labor before they have the baby." Rikku's jaw dropped at Lulu's information. "It's not an easy process to go through. Believe me."

"Yuna has battled Sin, Shuyin, and some of the worst things Spira has ever spit out, not to mention the fact that she lost her true love for two years," Rikku started, motioning with her hands as she spoke. "You think she would be able to go through _any_ process easily after going through those."

"Patience, Cid's girl," Gippal said as he motioned her to sit down next to him. She was slightly hesitant to sit next to him because of the awkward feeling was haunting the both of them. "Patience."

"Why are you so calm?" She asked as she got over the awkward feeling and plopped down where Gippal had his hand.

"Well, for one thing," he said, grunting as he pulled his hand out from underneath Rikku's rear. "I'm not the one in labor or Tidus right now, which I'm thankful for because I'm sure he's not going to have much of a hand left after this. Secondly, I'm happy you didn't spaz on me because I called you Cid's girl."

"I'll admit it, I do like that nickname," she confessed with a smile. "I know you call me that just to get on my nerves, but it's cute."

"Yeah, and thirdly, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Oh really?" She asked as she hugged her knees. "Like what?"

"I wouldn't sit like that, Rikku," Lulu advised as Rikku looked up at her. Rikku looked back down at the way she was sitting and realized that everyone in the waiting room could see clearly up her skirt, and she knew that she was wearing minimal underwear. She blushed as she put her feet on the ground and crossed them at the ankles. Lulu nodded in approval as Gippal laughed.

"That just added a few new things in my head," Gippal made clear as Rikku blushed a deeper shade of red.

"Well, um, wh-what were you thinking of before?" She asked as she tried to get back on topic. Gippal smirked at her and she motioned him with her hand to speak. "Please hurry before my embarrassment kills me."

"What am I thinking? Well, the first thing is how stupid I am for making a machina model of you." He exhaled as he shook his head. "Not only that, but I made her love me so much that she got on a ship and followed me to Luca."

"Love can be like that sometimes," she said as she looked around the waiting room. Nooj, Leblanc, Paine, and Baralai all went to the cafeteria to get everyone coffee since it was almost four in the morning. "Besides, Leblanc had a statue of Nooj made up, so I guess it's not that unusual."

"Now you're comparing me to her?" He groaned and Rikku giggled. "Anyone but Leblanc, please. It was bad enough that the Rikku machina called me 'Gippaly-Wippaly.'"

"What's the matter?" Rikku said as she started to speak in baby talk. "Gippaly-Wippaly doesn't like his new nickname?"

"Rikku, I swear if you ever call me that again, I'll shave your head, make it into a wig, and sell it." Rikku gasped as his threat and clasped her hands over her mouth. "That's what I thought." He laughed at her as Nooj and the gang came back with coffee, creamer, and lots of sugar.

"Oh yay, the Farplane in a cup," she exclaimed as she poured several containers of creamer and even more sugar into the cup. _Well, we're joking around again, so I guess I can assume that means that things are okay between the two of us?_ She asked herself as she reached for the stir stick and gently swirled around the contents that were now in the paper cup.

"Hey, Rikku, do you want a little coffee with your condiments?" Baralai asked as Rikku shook her head.

"No. Where's the fun and sugar in that?" Everyone laughed at her as they sipped their coffee. _But still…Me? Married? I'm not ready to settle down like that…But I do miss his arms around me…I miss the way he used to look me in the eyes and whisper sweet things in Al Bhed as we were lying on his bed…_

"Hey guys." Rikku looked up from sipping her coffee to see a very exhausted looking Tidus standing in the doorway, realizing that everyone else noticed his presence as well. It only took about 2.4 seconds for everyone to start throwing questions his way.

"How is Yuna doing?"

"How's the baby?"

"Is it a boy?"

"No, they obviously had a girl!"

"It's a boy, isn't it?"

"No, I told you! They had a girl!"

"How are you feeling, brudda? You look beat."

"Is Yunie okay? And the baby? She's all right too, right?"

"How about we let Tidus talk."

"What's its name?"

"_Her_ name! Get it right!"

"Can you still move your fingers or did Yuna break them off?"

"Can we see it?"

"No 'it!' She's a girl!"

"Guys, guys," Tidus said with a weak laugh as he put his hands up. "Yuna's doing fine. She's tired, but she's fine. And also, heh, to answer your question Gippal; yes, my hand's a little sore, but that's my role in the labor process. And the baby, it's a—"

"It's a girl, isn't it?" Rikku interrupted as she bounced on her toes and looked at everyone else. "I knew it was a girl."

"Yes, to Auntie Rikku's delight, it's a baby girl," Tidus said as Rikku shrieked. She leaped into Tidus' arms, almost knocking him over. "I knew you would be happy."

"I'm elated! I'm ecstatic! I'm thrilled! And all those other wonderful synonyms of the word 'happy!'" She blurted out as she let go of Tidus and latched herself onto Gippal. _Um…maybe I shouldn't have jumped back to Gippal…_She thought as she swallowed and uncomfortably looked up at him. Thankfully, he wasn't even looking at her. _But wait…that could be a bad sign too! Maybe he wants me to get off so by not looking at me he's giving me a sign…_

"Wait, wouldn't the baby be Rikku's second cousin?" Paine asked as Gippal stopped her.

"Let the blonde be happy." Gippal whispered as Paine chuckled. Gippal wrapped his arms around Rikku, so her negative thoughts flew right out the window and she concentrated again on her new baby cousin.

"So, what's her name, daddy?" Rikku asked, emphasizing the word 'daddy.'

"Daddy, huh?" Tidus said as his smile lit up the whole room. He softly chuckled at the thought of it. "I'm a…daddy."

"That shock stage takes a while," Wakka acknowledged as he gave Tidus a hearty pat on the back. "I know that one from experience, ya?"

"Don't listen to him, Tidus," Lulu added with a chuckle. "He's still not over the shock stage."

"Name?" Rikku whispered as she let go of Gippal and gently elbowed Tidus in the stomach. "Hint hint! Insert baby's name here!"

"Oh yeah, her name." He said as he proudly smiled some more. "We decided to name her Ariana."

"Pretty!" Rikku said as she started to bounce again. "I really like it!"

"That was her mother's name, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't it?" Lulu asked as Tidus nodded. "Oh, that's sweet. It's a beautiful name."

"It means 'one who shall rise like the sun' in Al Bhed," Baralai pointed out, receiving a few amazed 'huh's' from everyone else in the room.

"Kinda sounds like her mommy, wouldn't you say?" Paine noted and everyone chuckled.

"Coincidental?" Tidus asked as Lulu and Wakka shook their heads. "Fate it is."

"Hey, when did you start knowing so much about the Al Bhed, B?" Gippal asked Baralai, who only gave a short laugh.

"I've been doing my research," he replied as he wrapped his arm around Paine. "I can hold my own when it comes to knowledge of the Al Bhed."

"I'm impressed." Gippal said as he patted Baralai on the back.

"Can we see her?" Rikku wanted to know as Tidus half shook, half nodded his head. "I don't get it. What does that mean, Mr. Indecisive?"

"Well, you can't hold little Ari yet, but you can see her through glass as they get her wrist band on and stuff," he clarified as he motioned them to follow him toward the glass wall. "I want you to pick her out."

"That one," Lulu said instantly as she pointed through the glass. "The second one in."

"Wow, that didn't take long. Was that just a good guess?" Tidus asked.

"No. I can tell she's yours. Look, she has Yuna's nose and your eyes," she tapped Tidus on the nose for emphasis. "She's beautiful."

"Ten fingers, ten toes," he said as his eyes started to tear up. "I did my first fatherly duty by counting."

"She's big," Paine indicated in disbelief as she looked at the baby. "I didn't expect her to be that big since she's almost three weeks early."

"Yuna and I were worried all throughout the taxi ride," he admitted with a sigh. "And during most of the labor as well. But, thankfully, she's 7 pounds, six ounces, healthy, and can come home in a few days."

"It's a shame you're going to miss the signing," Nooj said as Tidus put his hand to his forehead. "No, don't worry about it. Believe me, if didn't have to be there, I wouldn't be."

"Oh, Ari," Rikku exhaled as she tapped the glass. "That's right, Auntie Rikku is going to teach you all kinds of fun things when you get out of there! Yes, she is!"

"Do you mean the same fun things you taught Vidina?" Wakka asked as Rikku looked at him.

"Whatever do you mean, daddy Wakka?" She said as she pretended to be flabbergasted. "I personally like how he squeals in happiness every time he hears Auntie Rikku's name!"

"Squeals? So that's what you call it, ya?" Wakka said as he looked down at Vidina. "I would prefer to call it a high pitched, glass breaking, shriek."

"He's gotten really good at it, Rikku," Lulu added as Wakka rolled his eyes. "Wakka loves it, don't let him fool you."

"When can we see Yuna?" Wakka asked as Tidus shrugged. "Was it a hard labor?"

"No, but she's really worn out. I wouldn't be surprise if she's sleeping right now." He looked as his baby girl through the glass and smiled. "If you guys come back tomorrow you will be able to see Yuna and probably hold the baby."

"We'll leave then, and let you and Yuna get some rest," Lulu said as she gave Tidus a large hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Congratulations, Tidus. She's beautiful."

"Thanks, Lulu," he said with a chuckle. "I'll pass the message on to Yuna as well."

"Please do." Everyone then took their turns of hugging and congratulating Tidus for the new baby.

"I'm glad she's a girl," Rikku said honestly when she gave her hug to Tidus, who only laughed. "Although I would've been happy if it would've been a boy, but not as happy."

"I'm happy that it's a girl too," he said as he held her close to him. "She'll grow up looking just like her mommy. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yep, see ya then!" She then hopped off toward the others, leaving Tidus alone to stare at his new baby girl.


	11. All You Need Is Love

**Welcome to the final chapter of what is now my favorite fic that I have written. I highly enjoyed writing this fic...and it's really sad to have it completely posted already. Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed it...and I hope to have Remembering Rachel posted sometime within the next...year. (Just kidding, hopefully it'll be sooner) Thank you everyone for your kind reviews!!!**

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11. All You Need Is Love

Rikku couldn't wipe off the smile that she had on her face since she saw her new cousin. She was beautiful, and like Tidus said, she was going to grow up and look just like Yuna. Rikku inhaled as she placed her hands on her legs and tried to pay attention to the speech that Gippal, Baralai, and Nooj were giving in the middle of the stadium. Although she, Paine, Lulu, Wakka, Vidina, and Leblanc had first class seats, Rikku couldn't find it in her attention span to actually listen.

_I think I was bitten by the love bug again…_Rikku thought to herself as she continued to think of how happy Yuna and Tidus are together. _They're always holding hands, sweetly kissing, or just smiling at each other. They have a connection…I never had that with Gippal, did I? We were always screaming at each other in Al Bhed and we never had time to enjoy the sentimental moments between us…_

_No, that's not true. We shared some amazing moments together! Like the time he surprised me by taking the day off work and driving me to an unknown location so we could have our own private picnic. That was so romantic, although a sandstorm almost blew us away. Or how 'bout the time he found a baby flan and how he let me play with it for a while! Awww, I forgot about Cudda Vicca! He was so cute! Well, he was cute until we found Lele Vicca!_

She looked up at Gippal, who looked very cool and collected up on the podium. _Heh, I don't know who he thinks he's fooling by saying that he's not good in front of people. He loves the limelight more than anyone I know! _She had to let out a chuckle as Gippal flashed everyone in the audience his trademark cocky grin as a period at the end of his sentence.

_Yeah, I miss him…A lot…_She admitted to herself as she looked down at her shoes. This was the second night in a row where she had to 'get all pretty,' so that meant that she went back to that store and bought the red dress that she had been eyeing. The dress was made of a sparkly scarlet material, low bust line, spaghetti straps and a wavy bottom. Her shoes were also red, in the same sparkly material as her dress. Instead of trying to please Gippal tonight by wearing her hair long, she wore her hair up, but not in her usual thrown together style—she pinned it back and curled a few stray tendrils so they framed her face.

_He was going to propose to me…_She repeated to herself for the eightieth time within the last five minutes. She started to wring her program between her hands as she continued to think of what he said to her. _Maybe I should've thought more about the situation before I broke up with him…I mean, he means the world to me! I can see us married in five years, but not now…Maybe I was more scared about being tied down forever than anything…Maybe that's the real reason why I broke up with him…_

Rikku looked around and realized that the audience was applauding, so she started to clap her hands together. _Yep, I have the attention span of a five year old who has been eating sugar cubes all day today…_She mumbled in her head as everyone started to disperse the stadium. _Oh wow, I didn't know that it was over! Thank Yunalesca!_

"We're supposed to meet them in the café," Lulu stated as she picked up Vidina. "That's where the reception is being held."

"You know, if it wasn't for Lulu, we would never know what's going on or where to go," Rikku whispered to Paine, who let out a smile. "What? It's true!"

"I know it is, that's why there is humor in it," she replied as they started to exit the stadium.

"So what actually went on for that ceremony? I honestly think I slept during it or something," Rikku asked as she rubbed her eyes. She let out a whimper when she realized that she had on mascara and eye make up on. "Ahh! Did I ruin my make up?" She frantically asked Paine as she looked at her hand.

"No," Paine said as she held the door open for Rikku. "You have enough eye make up on to share with the rest of Spira. You are going to need some heavy-duty machinery to help you get it off. Hey, maybe your Rikkubot could help you!"

"Very funny," Rikku said as she rubbed the make up off her fingers with her other hand. "I'm pretty sure that Gippal still has that thing in his room. I don't know about you, but just having it around… Yikes! Wouldn't that creep you out?"

"The real you creeps me out enough," Paine said as Rikku pouted. "Hey, I'm kidding. Anyway, I think he still has it unplugged, so it's just lying there or something."

"What do you think he's gonna do with it?" Rikku asked as they walked out onto the Luca streets. "I know it was an experiment and stuff, but now it's just plain disturbing."

"Talk to him about it." Paine suggested as Rikku nodded. Rikku and Gippal hardly talked since the night before, but it wasn't like she was avoiding him. She woke up late due to going to bed late because they were at the hospital until almost five thirty am and he went to practice the signing speech a short time before she woke up. _I wish Ariana wouldn't have had an early alarm clock setting or something! Did really she need to come out at 4am?_

"Yeah, I plan to," she said as she looked down at her hands.

"Plan to what?" She felt someone sweep her up into a big hug and didn't have to look at who it was to see that it was Gippal.

"Ask when you were going to destroy the Rikkubot," she answered as he kept his arm around her shoulders as he put her down. "Just looking at it kinda scares me. Which makes me think, do people feel scared when they look at me? I try not to be scary."

"Ha, you're not scary," he said as he pulled her over to the side, leaving Paine with the hint that he wanted to talk in private with Rikku. She smirked at him as she left to find Baralai. "Hey, I've got an interesting proposition to make."

"Kay," Rikku said as she was all ears. She was slightly afraid of what he was going to ask, but she couldn't run now.

"How about we go see Yuna and Tidus for a little while," he said with a gentle smile. _Not the normal 'Gippal' smile, but the smile he usually gives me…_Rikku thought as her heart slightly melted. "We can see how Yuna's doing and you can hold the baby because I know that is what you've been dying to do since you found out Yuna was pregnant."

"What about the reception thingie for the signing?" Rikku asked as he shrugged. "Isn't that really important to you?"

"Yeah, it is, but I know you really want to see the new baby, and I want to take you." Rikku was touched that he would take her to see Ari, because she didn't want to go by herself.

"You'd do that?" She questioned as he nodded and rubbed her back.

"Of course I would," he said as he started to lead her toward the hospital. "Besides, it'll be a while before anything interesting happens at the reception anyway. I mean, there are some speeches planned and whatnot, but I'm sure Baralai and Nooj will wait until after dinner to reiterate everything that we said in the stadium. 'We believe that Spira needs to be whole and in order to do that, we needed to band together,' blah blah blah."

"It was a good speech though," Rikku said as he let out a laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You can't fool me, Cid's girl." She looked up at him in curiosity of what he meant and he gently kissed her on the top of the head. Rikku couldn't help but feel a little weak at the knees with his arm around her, _and now he just kissed me…_

"Fool you with what?"

"Oh, you're coy," he said as she batted her eyes at him. "You didn't pay attention to a damn word that was said for the entire two hour speech, I know you. You were too busy thinking about the new baby, or plotting ways to destroy the you machina, or—"

"I'm thinking that machina are weak against lightning and I have my black mage dressphere fully mastered and all ready to go in my suitcase," she interrupted as he started to laugh. "Hey, I enjoyed playing with my dresspheres last night. I forgot how fun it was. It's a rush."

"You can put that thief outfit on anytime you want to, 'cause let me tell you, it's so hot." Rikku couldn't help but blush slightly at the compliment. "I was quite jealous of those bellboys last night. I wanted to be seduced too."

"Gippal, come on," Rikku said, hoping he would stop the guilt trip. "You know I love _you_."

"I already took care of her, you know," he said, making Rikku go through a gear change in her mind.

"W-what?" She asked as he continued to rub her shoulder with his fingers.

"I love you too, Rikku."

"Okay, you just changed topics too quickly," she said as she rubbed her temples with her fingers. "You're going to give me a migraine if you keep doing that!"

"I destroyed the Rikku machina," he continued as they stopped walking again. "Nehl's gonna be pissed off at me, but I think he'll understand in the long run."

"But it was his project," she said as he nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but it was my fault for wanting to make the experiment into you," he admitted as he leaned against the stone railing. "At first I thought it would be a great way to make me feel better. I mean, I wouldn't have to miss you because you would always be right there. Then, you always were _right there. _That damn thing never left me alone for five minutes, and that made me miss you even more."

"Why's that?" She asked as he sighed.

"She was…too perfect. Although Nehl wanted it to just be an experiment, I made it go too far because I programmed her. She was exactly what I wanted. But after a while, nothing was surprising anymore. It was all too predictable. That's one of the things that I loved most about you; your unpredictable demeanor." He looked at Rikku and tapped her on the nose. "I just got bored with her."

"Um," Rikku started nervously as she made a face, afraid of what the answer was going to be to her question. "I don't mean to stick my nose in where it doesn't belong, but—"

"She wasn't a sexbot, Rikku," he answered as she let out a sigh of relief. "I'm not _that_ deranged."

"Okay, good," she said as she exhaled.

"She was just supposed to be a replacement, ya know, some way to make the mending process go smoother." He scratched the back of his head in thought. "But, like I said, it stopped being entertaining after twenty minutes. She was practically attached to my hip."

"It's because she loved her Gippaly-Wippaly!" Rikku said as she grabbed Gippal's face, making his lips pucker. He gave her a look of annoyance and she couldn't help but giggle at him.

"The hair threat still applies, you know." Her eyes went wide as she let go of his face and grabbed her hair. "Ha, works like a charm every time."

"Ha ha," she said as she leaned against the railing, to his surprise, extremely close to him. "I'm really sorry for hurting you, Gippal."

"It's okay," he said as he looked out toward the horizon. "It didn't kill me, so I guess that cliché proves that it'll made me stronger. I can't dwell on the memories."

"'Memories are nice—"

"But that's all they are," Gippal finished for her as he looked at her. "I know the phrase."

"I love that phrase." She tilted her head so she could look at him, then quickly looked away. "It helps me through tough times, like when I think of my mom or Auron or…" She watched the waves crash against each other as she quietly added, "or you."

"Yeah." He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he cleared his throat. There was an awkward silence between them for a moment as they gazed out at the scenery, scrambling to find the right words to say. Rikku rested her head against his arm, causing him to move it and wrap it around her.

"I miss you," she said as Gippal blinked repeatedly for a few seconds. "I really do. Seeing you over the last few days made me realize that I miss being with you. I love being your girl. It's like, we're made for each other."

"What happened to you wanting to be the independent woman that I was holding you back from?" He knew his tone was slightly harsh, but he wasn't ready to give in to her just yet.

"Uh, bitterness, party of one? Your table is now available," she retorted as moved her head off of his chest and glared at him. "I knew you would misunderstand me when I said that."

"How else am I supposed to take it besides, 'Gippal, you're smothering me.'" He had to smile as he tried to imitate Rikku's voice. He looked at Rikku for some kind of verbal reaction, but she only sighed as she placed her head back on his chest.

"My defense to that would have to be that I was afraid of getting too close." She watched a ship enter the harbor and move closer to the dock. She could hear the sailors yelling at each other even though they were a good distance away. "I guess I thought that since I was already falling too hard, I was afraid that you would just leave me by myself."

"I thought that you would've known that I would never ever leave you," he said as he trailed his finger under her jawbone and stopped at her chin, causing her to look at his face. "How did you not know that?"

"I don't know," she confessed as she moved her head and smiled as she looked down at her feet. "Being with you feels so right, but I'm just scared. I don't know what's going to happen."

"Rikku, I can't describe what you mean to me." He started as Rikku interrupted.

"You made me into a Rikkubot," she said merrily as she slightly giggled. "That means something."

"Yeah, can we forget about the machina thing?" She nodded and he kissed her on the top of the head. "Okay good, because that's really embarrassing."

"But on a serious note, I was, well, serious." She said as Gippal stopped rubbing her arm.

"What are you saying, Rikku?" He asked her as she innocently looked up at him. "I'm really confused."

"Well, I just think that every Rikku in this world should have her very own Gippal." Gippal slightly blushed as Rikku genuinely smiled at him. "You're an amazing guy, Gippal. I don't know who I would be if you weren't in my life."

"Really?" He asked, completely flattered. "Well, thank you, Cid's girl. That's very sweet."

"So, did you really want to marry me?" She knew that she ruined the sentimental moment slightly, but couldn't help but ask. It had been running through her head all day and the curiosity was simply killing her. _Plus, I'm not sure if he was just using that defense to make me feel worse about the situation…he wouldn't do that, would he? _He inhaled then blew out the air in small puffs.

"Yeah, I, um, I really did," he replied, keeping her past tense in his own sentence. "Heh, I never thought you would've broken up with me on the same day though. You just love to keep me guessing."

"Oh," she said simply. _Silence…_She thought as she tapped her fingers against the cool stone railing. "I'm not ready to marry you yet. I know that sounds forward, but it's true."

"I see." Looking out at the sea was the only thing he could find to do at the time being. He wanted to just walk away from her because this intervention wasn't helping him at all. It was only opening the wounds that she gave him the previous week when she broke up with him. _Wait a tick…_He thought when he ran her previous sentence through his head again. "What do you mean, 'yet?'"

"Huh?" she said as perked her head up. "'Yet' what?"

"You said, 'I'm not ready to marry you _yet._'" She blinked blankly at him and he bit his lip in thought.

"I did?" She asked as she tried to remember what she said.

"Yes, you did," he replied as he looked down at her. "So, what did you mean by it?"

"Well, I already made it clear to you that I still love you and I really regret breaking your heart," she started as she turned so her back was against the short stone wall. "But, I'm too young to be married. I know that Yunie and Tidus were only 19 when they got married, but I think they were 'prepared' to get married. I don't think we have the mental capability to get married. Now that I really do think about it, I think we would kill each other."

"I beg to differ, but okay," he said, unsure how to take her ramblings. _She's known to ramble on for a while and not realize what she's saying…If she doesn't forget where she's going with this sentence, she might get to a point eventually…_

"I love being with you. I love being in your arms, I love when you give me that smile that just makes me go crazy, I love the way you make me feel inside when I think of you or if you're right there. In my brain, I envision us getting married and settling down, but not yet. Maybe in like five or so years, but not right away." He let her ramble on some more, but she stopped for a second and played with the end of one of the tendrils of hair that were loose. "Uh oh, I forgot where I was going with this sentence."

"Proof that I know you too well." Gippal couldn't help but let out a laugh as he walked in front of her and rested his hands against the railing, trapping her between his arms. "So you still love me?"

"Of course," she said quietly as she lifted her head up so she could look him right into his good eye. "I'm really sorry for the millionth and a half time."

"That's all that matters because I can wait," he said as he lowered his head so his lips met Rikku's. She blinked in surprise, but the shock stage only lasted a second for she knew it was right. She brought her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her back as the kiss deepened.

"Well, it looks like the whole gang is back together." Rikku and Gippal separated to see that their compassionate moment was in front of an audience composed of Baralai and Paine. Rikku and Gippal both slightly blushed. _Uh oh, busted! _Rikku thought as she smiled and chewed on her lip.

"Sorry for intruding," Baralai said as they walked closer to each other, "but we were going to go see how Yuna, Tidus, and the new baby were doing and we wanted to know if you crazy kids wanted to come with us."

"What, are _all_ of you guys going to skip out on the reception?" Rikku asked, suspiciously eyeing Gippal and Baralai.

"Eh, Nooj can handle it," Baralai said with a wave of his hand. "He knew we were sneaking off anyway, I told him."

"It's not technically 'sneaking off' if he knows about it though, right?" Baralai chuckled at Rikku and nodded at her.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Well, I'm up for seeing Ariana," Rikku said, trying to bounce on her toes. It didn't work so well because she was in heels, so she pouted and stopped. "Owie."

"Come on," Gippal said with a laugh as he put his arm around her waist and kissed her on top of the head. She looked up at him and again had to smile in happiness. _Yay! I'm his girl again! Don't mess it up this time, Rikku! _She yelled at herself as they walked toward the hospital.

"Hey, Gippal?" She asked, feeling a giggle fit coming up.

"Yeah?"

"You're not going to make another Rikkubot if you get mad at me in any point in time, right?" She giggled throughout the entire sentence and he rolled his eye at her.

"Rikku!" He groaned in annoyance at her and looked up at the sky.

"Sorry!" She said as he held open the door to the hospital for her. The giggles consumed her as she continued to think of it, Paine and Baralai joining in, and lastly, Gippal letting out a chuckle as well.


End file.
